E. Fuller Torrey

In the following viewpoint, E. Fuller Torrey asserts that de- institutionalization—taking severely mentally ill people out of public institutions and closing all or some of those institutions—has worsened the mental health crisis. He contends that while some people with severe mental illnesses have benefited from deinstitutionalization, many others need to remain in institutions. He argues that the closings have harmed a significant minority of the mentally ill by making it difficult for them to receive necessary treatment. Torrey is the author of Out of the Shadows: Confronting America’s Mental Illness Crisis, from which this viewpoint is taken.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. According to the author, what event led to deinstitutionalization?
2. In 1994, how many severely mentally ill patients were in public psychiatric hospitals...