Both WOMEN are in their sixties. One is even on Haldol for a psychosis she doesn’t have.
One woman is in a state mental hospital from systematic abuse through fanaticism of her family. A former spouse is a devout evangelical that attempted to control her behavior within the marriage because he was convinced she was a nymphomaniac because she wasn’t becoming pregnant. He was convinced they were being punished for her sins. This was decades ago. They eventually divorced. During the divorce proceedings she learned he had to be married with at least one child to receive his inheritance.
After the divorce, harassment against her continued and was picked up by her parents. She liked marijuana when it was illegal so it gave her family a lot of clout with courts regarding her behavior. There was even a judges’ order stating she could not wear high heels because it made her feel sexy and exacerbated her sexual preference for younger men. She has been sterilized against her will.
The abuse of this woman’s emotional life is simply an example of how the legal system and mental health system is manipulated to achieve control over women for whatever reason the abusers are pursuing. In this particular case she is caught up in a system without a review process that would bring about not just freedom but justice.
The other woman is caught up in a guardianship that served her somewhat well while she had a benevolent guardian. Now, her guardian, while family, is caught up in the idea of esteem as a guardian and maintains her in, and get this, an independent living facility where she has no quality of life. She has no monies available to her to even enjoy independent living. She is unable to attend a movie, go shopping, call a cab, go out to dinner, or even attend her regular Catholic Church.
She has a room, is capable of all her own care, including microwaving hoarded snakes from the meals she is provided three times a day. She has no children, is divorced, is college educated, basically abandoned by her family except for her guardian who has made her reputation in the family so repulsive no one cares to see her or even send a greeting card on her birthday.
She is in an independent living facility and the only humor she finds is in the life she is allowed in that facility. The lawyer that is her legal guardian collects 5 percent of her monies annually.
This sixty something woman needs a wheelchair for her own security to prevent falling, while she is receiving physical therapy to assist her to return to using a walker. She belongs in a handicap apartment where her once a month RN can visit to update her care plan and receive speech and physical therapist care. She is receiving speech therapy due to voice projection issues.
If she was relieved of her guardians and allowed to live in her own in a handicap apartment with normal community involvement she would have her quality of life and dignity returned to her for the years she has available, which should be a normal longevity.
There is also another woman soon to become sixty, who is homeless because her legal guardian sees it necessary to pay her bills rather than declare bankruptcy and put her in an apartment. She is currently living in her aged truck with her dog and it is not by choice no matter what anyone says. She has had her testing and can carry a conversation and do math for a checking account just fine. She cares appropriately for her dog and has no measurable mentation issue when engaged in normal human discourse.
I have had enough of people taking control over other people, primarily older women deemed incompetent. So, don’t start with the idea of neurological testing being a good path for the elders in our society because it is a dangerous and very slippery slope!
The state facility has no ombudsman authority, the independent living facility isn’t suppose to need an ombudsman and will not accept a referral. Guardianships are not taken by social work departments because they are overseen by the courts with protective relationships with the oppressed wome. The homeless have no one, except, churches and shelters that mitigate abuse within their purview.
These women have fallen between the cracks and no one cares about their quality of life.
All these women are in the USA, but, not in the same state.
