MENTAL ILLNESS

For over a year I worked on a story about mental illness. It was a fascinating journey into the murky thoughts of people who heard voices, believed fantastical things about themselves and who, because of their tenuous grasp on reality, were frequently homeless and often arrested. The local laws at the time were useless and left many of these vulnerable people with no help for their illness. Some turned to alcohol or street drugs to self-medicate and were arrested so often, the local jailor described it as "serving a life sentence ten days at a time". It is important to cover this type of social issue so that awareness of real problems and injustices can lead to change.