In 1995, I ran down my street naked. This unusual behaviour was caused by a manic episode of bipolar disorder, an illness that I have had since I was 18 years old.
The Crisis Assessment Team was called and I was taken to Larundel, a government-operated psychiatric institution, where I was sectioned and treated with antipsychotic medication. Larundel closed in 1999, as part of the Victorian government’s policy of ‘deinstitutionalisation’ in which mental health services were incorporated within general health sector.
While ostensibly driven by humanitarian intentions, deinstitutionalisation was in reality driven by the neoliberal ideology of cost-cutting rather than patient wellbeing.
Deinstitutionalisation required adequate investment into primary health care, social supports and housing, which wasn’t forthcoming.
The policy of deinstitutionalisation thus shifted care of people with psychosis to prisons, charities and families, who are often in no position to cope with the demands of mental illness.
I am one of the lucky ones. I have stayed well since my discharge from Larundel thanks to medication and an effective Stay Well Plan. Unfortunately, many others don’t have access to the right treatments and supports.
First published as a Letter in The Age 26 October 2026