Right. We have armed officers interacting with the crazies, because we don't take mental health issues seriously enough to have enough mental health care workers do it.
We used to have sanitariums, now we (non-experts) say it's cheaper/better to just release them into the public. Then get all surprised and pissy when things go wrong.
Hospital is not a good choice for most people with mental illness. Even people with severe illness, such as psychosis, benefit from good quality community treatment where possible, reserving hospital for last resort intervention.
That good quality bit is important though.
You might want to look at the literature around "Early Intervention in Psychosis" style working.
We used to have sanitariums, now we (non-experts) say it's cheaper/better to just release them into the public. Then get all surprised and pissy when things go wrong.
We've regressed.