Breakdown: A Times Special Report

Mental Health in California

For California's estimated one million people with mental illness, life is a daily struggle. Times reporters Scott Gold, Lee Romney and others are chronicling their lives and the strained system meant to serve them.

Schizophrenia takes a daughter away
COLUMN ONE
Schizophrenia takes a daughter away
By Scott Gold and Lee Romney
Even a loving family with ample financial resources is powerless against the disease.
December 29, 2007

COLUMN ONE
Shutting door to treatment
By Lee Romney and Scott Gold
When those descending into mental illness commit a crime, their chances of getting needed help can dissolve when law enforcement arrives.
December 7, 2007

BREAKDOWN
Rural areas reap little from Prop. 63
Lee Romney and Scott Gold
LOOKOUT, CALIF. -- Adismayed Chuck Finck stood at his daughter's hospital bedside in Redding, a winding two-hour drive from his home in the alfalfa-rich Big Valley.
September 17, 2007

BREAKDOWN
New funds, enduring ills
By Scott Gold and Lee Romney
For two years after Alfredo Ruiz was diagnosed with schizophrenia, his family tried -- and failed -- to find him help.
September 16, 2007

BREAKDOWN
A profound but controversial effect
By Scott Gold and Lee Romney
Kanuri Qawi's unlikely 2004 court victory has had a lasting impact on California mental hospitals, adding to what one doctor calls a "culture of refusal," as more patients reject their medication.
March 16, 2007

Sex offender is free -- and reduced to a riverbed
By Catherine Saillant
Habitual sex offender Ross Wollschlager has bounced from one Ventura County hotel to another in the weeks since his release from a state mental hospital, getting ejected each time the owner learned of his identity.
September 8, 2007

BREAKDOWN
Program for mentally ill eliminated
By Scott Gold, Lee Romney and Evan Halper
Before signing the budget, Schwarzenegger kills the $55-million initiative that aids the homeless. Counties can fund it, an aide says.
August 25, 2007

BREAKDOWN
Pay hikes at state hospitals ordered
By Lee Romney and Scott Gold
A judge hopes his action will help stem an exodus of psychiatrists to higher-paying positions in the prisons.
May 22, 2007

BREAKDOWN
Flight of mental hospital staff taking a human toll
By Lee Romney and Scott Gold
Head of Atascadero state facility refuses to link suicides to acute loss of workers, but concedes that care is eroding.
March 22, 2007

BREAKDOWN
Mental ward may be closed
By Scott Gold and Lee Romney
The children's unit has been operating at Metropolitan State Hospital for 10 years. Officials say their goal is to move patients out.
August 2, 2007

BREAKDOWN
Health program at risk
By Lee Romney and Scott Gold
The homeless mentally ill could lose out due to a $3-billion budget gap.
July 14, 2007