Number Of Psychiatric Beds Across The US Has Fallen To Historic Low

In “To Your Health,” the Washington Post (7/1, Beachum) reported that researchers for the Treatment Advocacy Center have found the number of psychiatric beds in state hospitals across the US has fallen to a historic low, and almost half of those that are available “are filled with patients from the criminal justice system.” Both sets of data “reflect the sweeping changes” that have occurred in the 50 years since the nation began deinstitutionalizing mental-health patients “in favor of outpatient treatment.” The “promise of that shift was never fulfilled,” however, “and experts and advocates say the result is seen even today in the increasing ranks of homeless and incarcerated Americans suffering from serious mental conditions.”

Related Links:

— “Nation’s psychiatric bed count falls to record low,” Lateshia Beachum, , July 1, 2016.

Posted in In The News.