"If he had called about a skinny dog in someone’s yard

[jwirr]

11. Years ago a person could be sent to an mental institution upon the say so of 10 people. My aunt was

placed into the institution at Cherokee Iowa when her husband decided that he did not want her around any longer. He got 10 friends to testify regarding her behavior and off she went. She lived there for 40 years (out in the late 50s). She was expected to work in their kitchens and never received a cent in pay. When she was released she wanted to sue them for payment but the family did not want her to get into any more trouble that would send her back. There is no doubt that she was mentally ill but she was capable of living on her own. For the remainder of her life she lived in the town she was born in and did not hurt anyone. But she was very poor.

This court order in Waterloo should have happened all over the country not just Iowa. One way things are better now is that no one can be sent to an institution without a doctors order and a court hearing. The other is that placement is not a given because many patients can and do live in their own communities. Unfortunately many communities/families do not have places for their mentally ill. In our case the lady was living in her own home just across from her brother and other family members also assisted her.