Disturbing His Peace

Last year, my son, Michael, and I experienced profoundly inadequate and ineffective care while desperately trying to obtain proper medical treatment for his serious mental illness (SMI). Instead of receiving the care he needed, Michael has now spent six months in the DuPage County Jail due to repeated arrests. We live in Illinois, where families like ours are overwhelmed by red tape, insufficient services, and dangerous laws that make it nearly impossible to help loved ones with SMI.

Michael is twenty-nine years old. He experienced his first psychotic break at age twenty-one and was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder. He struggles with medication compliance due to anosognosia and also with alcohol use disorder. He has been psychiatrically hospitalized more than fifteen times, nearly all involuntarily. He has been arrested four times, two of those arrests occurring this past summer while he was actively seeking help.

Over time, Michael became increasingly symptomatic and began drinking alcohol frequently, which severely exacerbated his delusions, paranoia, disorganized thinking, and erratic behavior. I worked closely with him until he agreed to contact a local facility that treats both substance use disorder and mental illness. Although he was accepted, there were no beds available for one week. During that waiting period, Michael was arrested and charged with six felonies. He was released under Illinois’ no-cash-bail law.

I later learned that the police had requested that the judge keep Michael in custody because they recognized he needed help and protection. That request was denied. Michael entered treatment as planned after his release. However, when he met with a nurse practitioner at the facility, she stated that he appeared “overmedicated” and reduced his antipsychotic medication from 20 mg to 5 mg. This was not an acute psychiatric hospital, and his medications should not have been altered. I immediately contacted the clinical supervisor to express my concern.

Michael interpreted this reduction as confirmation that he had been overmedicated for eight years and was relieved to take less medication. I knew, however, that his symptoms would worsen and that compliance would decline. After two weeks in what was supposed to be a twenty-eight-day program, he left the facility. When he returned home, he was significantly worse than before.

At that point, I knew the only remaining option would be involuntary psychiatric hospitalization, which requires that a person become an imminent danger to themselves or others. As Michael deteriorated, I reached out to multiple professionals seeking help. A local police sergeant who had previously assisted us was compassionate and eager to help. She informed me of an Illinois law I had not known: if an individual has pending felony charges, a family member cannot file a petition for involuntary psychiatric hospitalization. I later confirmed this information with a state’s attorney who works in specialty courts. I was stunned. This is a dangerous and deeply flawed law that leaves families powerless.

Shortly thereafter, Michael experienced a delusion that he was having a heart attack. Although I recognized this as psychosis, I took him to the emergency room. While there, I requested a psychiatric evaluation. The night before, Michael had verbally threatened me and was exhibiting severe psychotic symptoms. It is devastating as a parent to have to wait until a loved one is threatening before help becomes available.

Michael was transferred to a psychiatric hospital, where staff quickly recognized that the drastic medication reduction had been negligent and harmful. They increased his antipsychotic dosage appropriately. He was hospitalized for seven days and discharged, still symptomatic.

Michael then sought help at another psychiatric hospital for his co-occurring disorder. He was admitted and remained inpatient for four days. Three days after discharge, on August 11, he was arrested again. This time, the judge did not allow him to leave. While he was incarcerated, I learned there is only one forensic psychiatrist for approximately 700 inmates, and it can take about one month to be seen.

Upon arrival at jail, Michael reported that he was taking only 5 mg of his antipsychotic medication. After speaking with him, I encouraged him to advocate for a return to his long-standing dosage of 20 mg. It took two months for this change to occur. There are no additional mental health services available in the county jail.

I am grateful that Michael is now on the correct medication and is sober and safe. However, I am deeply disturbed that jail has become the only place where his life-saving needs are being addressed. No family should have to endure this. My journey with Michael has been a continual learning process—heartbreaking, exhausting, and often infuriating—but I remain hopeful that he can one day live a healthy and stable life.

Sincerely,
Sarah Kibler

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Because Michael did not receive timely, appropriate treatment and instead cycled into the criminal justice system, the cost to the state has been significant. In Illinois, incarcerating an individual costs an estimated $33,000–$38,000 per year, meaning Michael’s six months in jail has likely cost taxpayers $15,000–$19,000 for incarceration alone—excluding court proceedings, law enforcement involvement, emergency care, and repeated hospitalizations. By contrast, sustained community-based mental health treatment and supportive services cost far less and are proven to reduce arrests, hospitalizations, and long-term disability. Michael’s experience underscores a hard truth: treatment saves lives and money, while neglect drives suffering and escalating public costs. Treatment Saves. Neglect Costs.