Mental Health Crisis in Prescott
A man’s history of institutionalization clashes with inadequate mental healthcare services in the rural community.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Calvin Pettijohn, who has been an inmate of the Medical Lake asylum on two previous occasions, is again to be examined as to his mental condition. For the past week Pettijohn has been causing his relatives near Prescott no end of trouble and making life miserable for everyone with whom he has come in contact. He has a mania for destroying property about the farm, and it has been necessary to keep a guard over him continuously. Monday, while the family were occupied in eating their breakfast, the man left the house and, taking an axe, began cutting down a fence. When his guard attempted to relieve him of the axe, he became violent and threatened to strike him. He was finally overpowered and securely locked in a small room. About two months ago he was brought before a board of physicians for examination, but at that time the board did not deem his mental condition such as would warrant commitment to the hospital for the insane, and he was discharged.
“He has a mania for destroying property about the farm and it has been necessary to keep a guard over him continuously.”
This account reflects the 1903 struggles of families navigating the lack of consistent mental healthcare, often leaving the burden of safety entirely on relatives. Today, the debate over civil commitment versus community-based care remains a central issue in Washington state’s health policy.
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