ABSTRACT
Where do we normally find power and influence in life? As consumers, through money; as workers, through competence or positions of authority in the job; as social animals, from our roles as parents, soccer coaches, school board members, and so on, or through our connections to other people with influence; and as citizens, through our rights in a free society. On this scorecard, the mentally ill are some of the least powerful people in society, confronting the restrictions of poverty, unemployment, stigma, discrimination, social exclusion, jail incarceration, hospital admission (see Chapter 7) and even outpatient treatment.
