This is so well said and I can attest to all of it. Today I finished my mental health clinical that had us working in multiple inpatient psychiatric units at a local hospital. I saw some patients that have been on these units for months, including a patient who has been in the behavioral emergency department for 6 months.
The oversimplification of this systemic nationwide issue is so misleading. Yes, it’s awful these patients are not getting the treatment they desperately need and deserve, but where do we send them when every other facility they could go to has no open beds? Unless we get an influx of funding, staff, and facilities (both inpatient and outpatient clinics in the community) nothing is going to get better.