How Systemic Failures Turn U.S. State Mental Hospitals Into Prisons

Source: NPRTyeesha Ferguson fears her 28-year-old son will kill or be killed. "That's what I'm trying to avoid," said Ferguson, who still calls him her baby. She remembers a boy who dressed himself in three-piece suits, donated his allowance, and graduated high school at 16 with an academic scholarship and plans to join the military or start a business. Instead, Ferguson watched as her once bright-eyed, handsome son sank into disheveled psychosis.