Against Their Will: From WFAA

Late last year, the investigative news team at WFFA in Dallas reported on the issue of being involuntarily committed to long-term mental health hospitals. In their series Against Their Will, which continued into 2018, reporter Brett Shipp and others uncover the disturbing trend of voluntarily admitting oneself for in-patient care only to find that checking oneself out again was next to impossible.

Though Timberlawn is not mentioned by name in this story, the reporting nevertheless hits far too close to home. You can watch the beginning of the story here:

Shining a much-needed light on this all-too-common problem, the story continued in early 2018 when Charlotte Huffman reported Mason Johnson’s story. Mason was being bullied at school, and when his mom admitted him for help, he was kept for an entire week and insurance was billed $11,000. See Mason’s story here:

Through their ongoing reporting, WFAA has provided an invaluable outlet for these stories, rightfully calling to account these private, for-profit hospitals. They’ve not only gathered many similar stories, but there are also resources and more information if you’ve experienced this kind of mistreatment. You can read about it all here.