In the grips of psychosis, a Portland man boarded a plane for NYC | The Story | April 24, 2024

April 24 on The Story: This week we've been bringing you stories of how Oregon's mental health system has failed people with severe mental illness. Jeff Rott and Kathy Shaughnessy's story could have been another tragic example, but it had a positive outcome - in large part because it left the state. During a psychotic episode, their son was booked into a Portland-area hospital in 2019. Despite the fact that Rott and Shaughnessy were involved in their son's care, the hospital released him onto the streets without warning. They didn't know until the next morning, when they tracked their son's phone and realized with horror that he had somehow made it to New York City overnight, having booked himself a plane ticket. But as they later discovered, New York was better equipped to get their son the treatment he needed, whether he was willing to cooperate or not.
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[@sarahb3525]

Thank you for reporting on this. I've been saying this for a while. We need to be there for the people who struggle with these issues.

[@josephbradshaw5353]

I’ve been there, 100s of drugs prescribed not one made anything better but narcotic sedatives. Unfortunately a rare undiagnosed autoimmune disease was the cause. To this day I’m still fighting psychosis, DID has almost cost me my life more times than I can count because I so severely disconnected each time.