Friday Reads: American Psychosis

This week's Friday Reads is a Covid edition; Kelly finally succumbed to the virus and had a bit more time to read than usual. This week she tells us about American Psychosis: How the Federal Government Destroyed the Mental Illness Treatment System by E. Fuller Torrey.

For various reasons, I've had an interest for years in how the United States cares for (or does not care for) people with severe mental illness. On a visit to the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in Weston, WV on vacation years ago, I was impressed with how much historical information was presented in their small museum area and at how compassionate the guides were when speaking of the former patients. We also learned a great deal about how the closure of the hospital in the '90s impacted the surrounding community as well as the former inhabitants and staff. 

American Psychosis explains how America went from an all-time high number of mental illness inpatients in the 1950s to our current situation, where often people with severe mental illness are shuttled from the streets to the emergency room or jail and back again. 

Well-intentioned figures such as JFK and Robert Felix (the first director of the National Institute of Mental Health - NIMH) set in motion a program that would close the hospitals in favor of community treatment. Torrey, who worked at NIMH as the changes were taking place, contends that the community treatment centers were incentivized to focus on community "wellness" measures rather than on treating discharged people with severe illnesses such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.

Torrey traces the changes of the mental health program from the 1960s to the 2010s, showing how funding sources were shifted, resulting in less oversight and coordination of care and allowing huge numbers of people to fall through the cracks. He considers the legal "right to be insane" and how this can harm both the individuals with severe mental illness and those in their communities. He examines the abuses and neglect that take place in many community living arrangements for people with mental illnesses. Finally, he presents suggestions for steps that could be tested and/or implemented to improve the quality of life for people with mental illness and the community as a whole. 

Nobody wants to go back to a time when someone could be institutionalized against their will for a vague diagnosis like "hysteria," but it is clear that much suffering has been shifted from the hospital ward to the jail cell or park bench rather than eliminated. I was particularly taken with a quote on page 125: "Our failure to protect such mentally ill people by ensuring that they receive treatment is a major miscarriage of our medical care system and a blot on our claims to be civilized." 

ALA in DC

Well, enough time has passed to allow me to come down from my "high" of attending this years American Library Association Annual Conference in Washington, D.C. It's always amazing to see the latest innovations in all things library. Sort of made my mouth water! 

                                       

It was also nice to meet many of my vendors so I could put faces with some of the people I speak with quite often and have some discussions about their products. 

I heard John Cho being interviewed about his new book, "Troublemaker." It was amusing when the interviewer had a coughing spell and John Cho said with a couple hundred librarians in the room someone has to have a Ricola--of course quite a few made their way to the stage. 

And, of course, the best part of the trip was meeting Dr. Carla Hayden, the Librarian of Congress. She was a professor at Pitt's library school when I attended but her classes were the most difficult to get into. 

So all in all it was reminiscent of looking through the Sears Christmas Catalog of my youth. Well see what Santa brings me this year!

New copyright small-claims "court"

 Recent legislation has instituted a new "small claims" board, or semi-official court, for copyright infringement issues. The Copyright Claims Board falls under the umbrella of the Copyright Office rather than in the judiciary branch of the federal government. 

The Electronic Frontier Foundation presents an overview of what this new body is and why, for many defendants, declining to have the case managed by the CCB in favor of the traditional route through the federal courts may be a smart move. Read more here: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2022/06/copyright-small-claims-quasi-court-opens-heres-why-many-defendants-will-opt-out 

Friday Reads: The Second Amendment; A Biography

Happy summer Friday (and aren't summer Fridays the very best kind?)! This week, Adam tells us about a recent read from his ongoing Dewey Decimal Reading Challenge -- The Second Amendment: A Biography by Michael Waldman.

The Second Amendment has been the subject of much debate in recent years. This book, rather than being about guns or gun control, is a constitutional and legal history of the controversial and often misunderstood amendment. Waldman devotes the first part of the book to the historical context of the American Revolution and the drafting of the Constitution and Bill of Rights, revealing much of what we know (and don't know) about the Framers' thoughts and intentions around this provision, most of which were focused on the need to maintain armed militias. Waldman also shows how judicial decisions and political advocacy have, over the past two hundred years, transformed a relatively obscure and minor constitutional amendment into one of the most fiercely-debated legal topics of the current moment. The book offers an eye-opening history that reveals how much our country has changed since its founding, and how our views on individual rights and civic duty have evolved over the decades.

Catherine Cole Celli Children's Room

Many thanks to the Seton Hill students who used the children's library as their canvas to display their talents.

Friday Reads: The Godfather

We'll be doing Friday Reads periodically throughout the summer. On this last Friday of the Spring 2022 semester, Adam has selected a nice, feel-good novel to kick off beach-read season -- The Godfather by Mario Puzo. 

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the release of the movie The Godfather, a hugely popular and influential film that is also arguably the best American film ever made. Given the film's vaunted place in our cultural imagination, it's easy to forget what a cultural phenomenon the source novel by Mario Puzo was after its publication in 1969. The novel sold millions of copies, and remained on the New York Times bestseller list for well over a year. Reading the novel now, decades after its original publication, it's easy to see why it was so popular. Puzo's novel is a salacious, violent story, and a peek behind the curtain of the Mafia, a subject that has long fascinated Americans.

The novel tells the story of the Corleones, a Mafia family in New York, in the decade after the end of World War II. Patriarch Vito Corleone is feared and respected by many, but after a botched assassination attempt leaves him hospitalized, his sons Sonny and Michael, with the help of consigliere Tom Hagen, must try and keep the family in power amid a mob war. It's a story about the corrupting influence of power, and like many classic works of twentieth century American fiction, the American Dream looms large in the background.

It's a book I've been meaning to read for years and years, but I kept putting it off. I guess the opportunity to read it now, during the movie's 50th anniversary, was an offer I just couldn't refuse.

Greater Pittsburgh Festival of Books

 

The Greater Pittsburgh Festival of Books is quickly approaching! This inaugural event promises to be a vibrant celebration of reading and literary culture in Southwestern PA.

The Details:

Saturday, May 14, 2022

10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. 

East Liberty

Learn about the full slate of programs for kids, teens, and adults and register for specific events at pittsburghbookfestival.org