(March 17, 2015) A guitar heist, followed by a 50-mile car chase with Vermont police has left Thomas Popke, 36, facing a host of charges related to the incidents (“Mom: Suspect in chase, guitar theft off meds,” Burlington Free Press, Mar. 12).
Popke was off of his medications for bipolar disorder at the time of the incident and his mother, Mary, blames a lack of mental health resources for her son’s continued illness.
"I don't know if you're familiar with bipolar disorder, but they go off their meds quite frequently, and you can't get them back on it," said Mary. "He's been manic for a couple of months now, but we couldn't get him in to see a therapist or psychiatrist or get any medicine into him."
Mary said getting help for her son has been made more difficult by his refusal to allow her to take over as his primary caretaker.
"He's a gentle, harmless person when he takes medication," Mary said. "My family has been going through this for 11 years, and it's so hard when all this gets reported, and nobody knows he's not like that."
According to Mary, Popke is receiving no mental health treatment while in prison awaiting trial. He could serve up to 23 years if found guilty of all possible charges.
But Jails and prisons are not created to be de facto mental hospitals. They are not structurally appropriate for patients, and the staffs are not trained to serve as psychiatric caretakers. Not surprisingly, there are many problems associated with placing large numbers of seriously mentally ill individuals into jails and prisons. Mentally ill inmates stay longer, cost more, are more likely to be victimized, and are more likely to commit suicide, according to a Treatment Advocacy Center report.
Popke belongs in a hospital bed, not a jail cell.
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Popke was off of his medications for bipolar disorder at the time of the incident and his mother, Mary, blames a lack of mental health resources for her son’s continued illness."I don't know if you're familiar with bipolar disorder, but they go off their meds quite frequently, and you can't get them back on it," said Mary. "He's been manic for a couple of months now, but we couldn't get him in to see a therapist or psychiatrist or get any medicine into him."
Mary said getting help for her son has been made more difficult by his refusal to allow her to take over as his primary caretaker.
"He's a gentle, harmless person when he takes medication," Mary said. "My family has been going through this for 11 years, and it's so hard when all this gets reported, and nobody knows he's not like that."
According to Mary, Popke is receiving no mental health treatment while in prison awaiting trial. He could serve up to 23 years if found guilty of all possible charges.
But Jails and prisons are not created to be de facto mental hospitals. They are not structurally appropriate for patients, and the staffs are not trained to serve as psychiatric caretakers. Not surprisingly, there are many problems associated with placing large numbers of seriously mentally ill individuals into jails and prisons. Mentally ill inmates stay longer, cost more, are more likely to be victimized, and are more likely to commit suicide, according to a Treatment Advocacy Center report.
Popke belongs in a hospital bed, not a jail cell.
To comment, visit our Facebook page.
Visit our blog archive to read all our recent posts.