In the middle of the last century, a movement to free patients from state-run psychiatric hospitals swept the U.S. This movement — deinstitutionalization — is widely blamed for seriously mentally ill people ending up on the streets. The real story goes much deeper than a loss of psychiatric hospital beds. It's about how incentives and decisions half a century created the dysfunction many people with serious mental illness are lost in today. Learn more about sponsor message choices: <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a> <a href="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy">NPR Privacy Policy</a>

In the middle of the last century, a movement to free patients from state-run psychiatric hospitals swept the U.S. This movement — deinstitutionalization — is widely blamed for seriously mentally ill people ending up on the streets. The real story goes much deeper than a loss of psychiatric hospital beds. It's about how incentives and decisions half a century created the dysfunction many people with serious mental illness are lost in today. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices NPR Privacy Policy

In the middle of the last century, a movement to free patients from state-run psychiatric hospitals swept the U.S. This movement — deinstitutionalization — is widely blamed for seriously mentally ill people ending up on the streets. The real story goes much deeper than a loss of psychiatric hospital beds. It's about how incentives and decisions half a century created the dysfunction many people with serious mental illness are lost in today. Learn more about sponsor message choices: <a href="https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices" rel="noopener noreferrer">podcastchoices.com/adchoices</a> <a href="https://www.npr.org/about-npr/179878450/privacy-policy" rel="noopener noreferrer">NPR Privacy Policy</a>

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Lost Patients takes you into new spaces most people have likely never experienced before — the inside of someone's psychosis, mental health court rooms, and the past and present streets of Seattle, says Esmy. Jimenez, collaborating journalist of Lost Patients, Apple Podcasts' Spotlight show for August 2024. Jimenez, joined by Will James and Sydney Brownstone, have created a deeply immersive six-part docuseries that explores the challenges of treating severe mental illness through the lens of one city's past, present, and future. Together, they have crafted a listening experience that mirrors the labyrinthine journey of individuals and families grappling with this crisis. "Lost Patients put us in contact with some of the most profound people we've ever met: people who have experienced psychosis," says James. "They have been to some of the farthest reaches of human experience, often with terrifying or devastating results, and nonetheless wanted to share what it was like with others to help them understand. These conversations have changed my perspective on mental illness — and, in some ways, on being alive." Brownstone agrees, "I hope considering someone in psychosis as being stuck in a dream — rather than simply unpredictable and volatile for no reason — opens up a new pathway to empathy for listeners." "Our goal was to help listeners see all the various shades of gray in these big national conversations about homelessness, addiction, and mental health," Jimenez explains. For James, "This podcast is for the countless people who witness people in mental health crisis — either on the sidewalks, busses, and subways of U.S. cities or in sensational TV coverage — and are working through their own feelings of confusion, fear, anger, and hopelessness."

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Documentary

Lost Patients takes you into new spaces most people have likely never experienced before — the inside of someone's psychosis, mental health court rooms, and the past and present streets of Seattle, says Esmy. Jimenez, collaborating journalist of Lost Patients, Apple Podcasts' Spotlight show for August 2024. Jimenez, joined by Will James and Sydney Brownstone, have created a deeply immersive six-part docuseries that explores the challenges of treating severe mental illness through the lens of one city's past, present, and future. Together, they have crafted a listening experience that mirrors the labyrinthine journey of individuals and families grappling with this crisis. "Lost Patients put us in contact with some of the most profound people we've ever met: people who have experienced psychosis," says James. "They have been to some of the farthest reaches of human experience, often with terrifying or devastating results, and nonetheless wanted to share what it was like with others to help them understand. These conversations have changed my perspective on mental illness — and, in some ways, on being alive." Brownstone agrees, "I hope considering someone in psychosis as being stuck in a dream — rather than simply unpredictable and volatile for no reason — opens up a new pathway to empathy for listeners." "Our goal was to help listeners see all the various shades of gray in these big national conversations about homelessness, addiction, and mental health," Jimenez explains. For James, "This podcast is for the countless people who witness people in mental health crisis — either on the sidewalks, busses, and subways of U.S. cities or in sensational TV coverage — and are working through their own feelings of confusion, fear, anger, and hopelessness."

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