Joan Bishop tried to help her sister, Linda, after she developed a severe mental illness while she was in her 40s. But Linda didn’t want her help. She refused treatment and medication and Joan’s attempt to obtain a guardianship over her sister was rejected by a judge.
After a drunk driving incident, Linda got further into trouble by throwing a cup of urine at a correctional officer while in jail. She was charged with a felony. Eventually, she was involuntarily committed to the New Hampshire State Hospital, but she refused treatment and would not take medication. After a year, she was released without any follow-up.
Because Linda had refused to sign a HIPPA wavier, Joan had no idea that her sister had been discharged until several months later.
What follows now comes from a journal that Linda began writing four days after her discharge.
