Op-ed | Jordan Neely deserved better

Mourners call for change in the mental health system during the funeral for Jordan Neely.

Photo by Dean Moses

Those who witnessed the choking death of Jordan Neely saw a man in crisis — and his death symbolizes so much of what is wrong in our deeply inequitable city.

The focus now should not just be what went wrong on that train, but what went wrong before Mr. Neely stepped on to it. And while we must of course scrutinize the flaws in our mental health system that contributed to his death, it is also crucial that we recognize the way we treat — or do not treat — substance use disorder is a deadly part of the problem as well.

Neely struggled with serious mental illnesses. When he was 14 years old, his mother was the victim of a shocking murder at the hands of his stepfather. He then had to take the stand and be cross-examined by his stepfather who represented himself at trial. In the years after, he was in and out of psychiatric care, on-and-off prescribed medication. Like many patients struggling with mental illness, he also self-medicated. At the time of his death, he was using K2 – an illegal, synthetic version of marijuana that can have severe and unpredictable effects – to deal with his depression and schizophrenia. But marijuana use actually contributes to symptoms of schizophrenia, particularly in young men. 

Substance use often co-occurs with certain mental health problems, including the two Jordan Neely was facing, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. When drug use increases, mental health problems usually increase, too. That means we can’t treat mental disorders without helping people address their substance use.

But right now, waiting lists for core mental health and substance use disorder programs are lengthy – all across the state, not just in the city. Eighty-two percent of treatment providers have seen an increase in demand for their services over the last year.

On top of that, the costs associated with…