# @theoregonian on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/C0H2qcBOdv4
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/10094185-theoregonian-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/00eed9839e.jpg
- **Posted:** 2023-11-26T21:00:20.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** The Oregonian (@theoregonian) — https://gondola.cc/theoregonian

## Caption

Editor’s note: The Oregonian/OregonLive is not naming L.B. to protect her medical privacy and because her illness currently renders her unable to meaningfully consent to have her story made public with her full name included. Neither her advocates nor The Oregonian/OregonLive could locate a relative who could speak on her behalf.

L.B., who is 60 and unhoused, is unlikely to make it through the winter.

She can often be found sleeping under a blanket in an Old Town doorway, not understanding the very real threats of frostbite and hypothermia, even as temperatures drop.

Diagnosed with schizophrenia, L.B. often experiences paranoia and delusions that frighten her and make her aggressive toward the outside world. She does not use drugs or alcohol. But she fixates on passers-by, particularly men who she warns are child molesters, abusers and kidnappers.

Scott Kerman, Blanchet House’s director, thought the saving grace for L.B. would be civil commitment, a legal step that forces a person in grave danger to undergo mental health care. A person can be forced into care if they pose harm to themselves or others or are unable to provide for basic personal needs. L.B. is a perfect example, Kerman and her other advocates say.

But five times over the past year, Multnomah County’s state-certified civil commitment investigators, all with master’s degrees in behavioral health, said she did not meet the criteria.

Read more at the link in our bio.

📸: bethnakamura

#theoregonian #mentalhealth #portland #mentalillness #mentalhealthresources #politics #oregonpolitics #portlandoregon #orpolitics

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oregonpolitics, portland, politics, orpolitics, mentalhealthresources, mentalillness, mentalhealth, portlandoregon, theoregonian

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