Millions of people with serious mental illnesses go without treatment in the United States, and few places feel the problem more than Colorado, where resources for mental health are relatively scarce.
The fallout from this shortage in care is severe: suicides, mass shootings, a huge population of prisoners, the homeless on the streets.
In “Breakdown: Mental Health in Colorado,” launching Friday, The Denver Post examines the mental-health crisis and tells the stories of Coloradans living with crippling illness through words, photographs, video and data.
The four-part series first looks at how hospitals turn away many patients in need, in part because of a restrictive Colorado law, but also because mental-health care isn’t as profitable as physical care. The Post follows the unraveling of one man’s life at the hands of bipolar disorder and addiction.
Part 2 focuses on a unique courtroom in Denver that focuses on treatment of mentally ill criminals to keep them out of jail. Prisons and jails in Colorado have become treatment centers, with large populations of mentally ill.
Homelessness and mental illness are examined in part 3. Two-thirds of chronically homeless people in Denver suffer from a mental illness, and experts say finding stable housing is key to treatment.
Children are the focus of part 4. Kids younger than 6 are least likely to receive mental health care if they need it. About half of adults with mental illness had problems as children.
