Truly I believe that mental illness is mainly a disease of the spirit, but is almost never treated as such. Indeed, it's so ironic that the word "psychology" is based on the Greek word for soul or spirit; yet nowadays many practitioners in the field, being "hard-nosed scientists," deny that such a thing as psyche even exists....
And yes, the wrist-slitting strategy to get attention and stay institutionalized is something I've seen, too. Sigh. It was one of "Rosa's" favorite strategies; that, and stripping naked and running, screaming, all over the place.... She was one of the most manipulative persons I've ever known, very shrewd, clever, and calculating. And thoroughly pitiable. [She recalls to my mind the character Fischerle in Canetti's Auto-da-Fé....]
Funny thing is, I much preferred the "seriously disturbed" patients on the Chronic ward (some of these cases were truly heart breaking), to the grifters on Rehab....
The hardest part of that job, for me, was the constant, unanswered question: Who are the really crazy people around here the patients, or the staff? LOLOL!
Anyhoot, FWIW, increasingly I think America has a very serious spiritual disease.... The public square seems a madhouse these days. It was this thought that recalled my summer job of long ago to mind....
May God ever bless you, dearest sister in Christ! Let us pray that our nation may be healed.
May God bless America.
I join in your earnest prayer for our country!