This article in JAMA argues for the need to bring back the asylum for very mentally ill patients, although the per-patient cost if institutionalization is astronomical.

The article’s authors say:

“For persons with severe and treatment-resistant psychotic disorders, who are too unstable or unsafe for community-based treatment, the choice  {now} is between … prison, homelessness and acute hospitalization or long-term psychiatric institutionalization. The financially sensible and morally appropriate way forward includes a return to psychiatric asylums that are safe, modern, and humane.”