From Asylum to teh Street

By: Gulas, Ivan

Why do homeless encampments keep growing despite billions in spending? A psychologist who witnessed the emptying of America's mental hospitals 50 years ago has answers-and solutions-politicians won't tell you.
Every day, you navigate around someone screaming at invisible enemies. You watch your city deteriorate. Your tax dollars vanish into programs that accomplish nothing. You're told it's a "housing crisis," but you can see these people aren't just poor-they're seriously mentally ill.
You're not imagining it. You're not heartless for being frustrated. You're witnessing the predictable result of a disastrous policy experiment.

Dr. Ivan Gulas was there when it started. In 1971, he evaluated psychiatric patients as America emptied its mental hospitals, promising "community care" that never appeared. Now, after 25 years watching Los Angeles descend into chaos-with 75,000 homeless and counting-he's written the book that explains what everyone can see but no one will say:
We created this crisis by abandoning mentally ill people to die on our streets and calling it "freedom."
WHAT YOU'LL FINALLY UNDERSTAND: Why that person living in filth, talking to voices, will never accept the apartment your taxes paid for-their brain won't let themHow politicians waste billions on "solutions" they know won't work because real solutions require admitting uncomfortable truthsHow other countries prevent this-Japan, Netherlands, Germany don't have mentally ill people dying on sidewalksThe real reason nothing changes: well-meaning advocacy groups offer fragmented and even enabling intervention, politicians fear tough decisions, and bureaucrats protect their budgetsTHIS BOOK IS FOR YOU IF: You're tired of stepping over bodies and human wasteYou wonder why billions of dollars haven't reduced the tent citiesYou've watched your neighborhood become unlivableYou can see these people need help they're not gettingYou want someone to finally tell the truth about why this is happeningYou're ready for real solutions, not more failed programsTHE TRUTH NO ONE ELSE WILL SAY:
The homeless crisis isn't about housing costs. It's about emptying mental hospitals without replacement. It's about laws that protect "rights" while people die. It's about spending billions on band-aids while refusing to fund actual treatment.
Your compassion isn't the problem. The system is.
Your frustration isn't wrong. The policies are.
Your neighborhood isn't supposed to be an open-air asylum. But that's what we've created.

This book supports what you already suspect: We know exactly how to solve this. Other countries have done it. We just lack the political courage to admit that some people need mandatory treatment, some need permanent care, and tent cities aren't "freedom"-they're mass neglect.

Dr. Gulas shows exactly what we need to build, what laws must change, and why every day we delay means more people dying on your streets.

The question isn't whether we can solve this-we can. The question is whether we'll keep pretending the emperor has clothes while our cities collapse, or finally build the solution that works.
Read this book. Share it. Demand better. Your city depends on it.

Dr. Ivan Gulas is a Board-Certified Clinical Psychologist and former Harvard Medical School faculty member who uniquely bridges mental health expertise with systems innovation. While heading a Hollywood studio-recognized by WIRED as one of twenty people reinventing Hollywood-he brings an entrepreneur's pragmatism to solving America's mental health crisis. His perspective spans from academic psychiatry to street-level reality, offering solutions that are both compassionate and achievable.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0FRLJKLY7
• ISBN13: 9798265665461
• Release Date: September 2025
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 90 Pages
• Weight: 0.29 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.2" x 6.0" x 9.0"