Life in Shadows for Mentally Ill in China

[groovedaddy]

XIZHEN, China — After five months in a rundown ward at the Hepu County Psychiatric Hospital, Yang Jiaqin no longer suffers terrifying hallucinations. Still, his wife dares not mention children, not even their own, for fear of unleashing the demons that possessed him one day last spring.

On a warm, sunny afternoon in April, Mr. Yang burst from his home in this rural village near the Vietnamese border, carrying a kitchen cleaver. He encountered three youngsters headed home from school on the dirt path outside. He hacked two primary schoolers, badly wounding both, and slit a second grader’s throat, leaving him dying on the ground. Then he moved on. By the time police officers caught up and subdued him, he had slashed two more people to death.

The victims’ families have focused their rage on the police. Three days earlier, Mr. Yang had struck a neighbor in the head with an ax, but was not detained.

“They are completely responsible for this,” said Wu Huanglong, the second grader’s father. “They did not protect us.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/11/world/asia/11psych.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=a21

[Odin2005]

1. Ugh, did they HAVE to use an example that pushes the bigoted 'Violent Schizo" meme?

[leftyladyfrommo]

2. Our mentally ill just live on the streets as homeless people.

No place else for them to go.