Special report: Monroe County mom hopes to get treatment for mentally ill son

June 15--Frank Zrillo is homeless and diagnosed with both bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

But the 35-year-old Monroe County man doesn't believe he's mentally ill. So he refuses to take the psychotropic medications that family and doctors say regulate a condition in which he receives false messages from his brain.

Having a severe mental illness isn't enough under Pennsylvania law to force Zrillo into treatment, even through involuntary commitment.

If a person hasn't been shown to be dangerous toward himself or anyone else -- and can survive alone or with the willing help of others -- he can't be forced into treatment.

Pennsylvania mental health law allows someone to be forced into treatment only if that person posed a serious threat to himself or others within the past 30 days.

Walks in middle of road

Zrillo may behave in a bizarre fashion as he wanders the county, but he hasn't met the recent or imminent threat standard that would force him into treatment.

When in public, Zrillo mutters to himself, demands things from others and curses.

Sometimes he walks in the middle of the road trying to stop cars as motorists drive by. Other times he roams shopping plaza parking lots, trying to open car doors.

Zrillo periodically shows up unannounced at his parents' home in a wooded private community.

Sometimes he stays the night, sleeping on the bare ground of a small metal shed in the Zrillos' backyard.

He's been known to wander the neighborhood at night, too.

"Who walks into a house at 4 o'clock in the morning and demands a cigarette?" asks his mother, Geraldine Zrillo. "He doesn't realize anything is wrong."

Sought help

Geraldine Zrillo has repeatedly called the local tri-county mental health agency, a mobile crisis response team, doctors, police, elected officials -- anyone who might listen.

Her son needs treatment, she tells them.

Authorities say they can't legally force him into treatment without her son's permission, or until his behavior poses a serious threat.

Court-ordered involuntary outpatient treatment is rarely invoked under Pennsylvania law, and usually only after a criminal offense has been committed and the defendant is determined to be mentally incapable of standing trial.

Slugged bus driver

In April, Zrillo boarded a bus in East Stroudsburg, singing aloud.

As the bus drove on, Zrillo suddenly broke into a rage and ordered the driver to stop. The driver explained he could only let Zrillo out at the next bus stop two blocks away.

That's when Zrillo punched the driver, who managed to bring the bus to a stop without causing a wreck. Zrillo ran out of the bus while other passengers came to the driver's aid.

His mother is exasperated.

"He was off his medicine for three months," Geraldine Zrillo said. "What do you expect?"

Her son was arrested and charged with assault. He remains in Monroe County Correctional Facility in lieu of $1,000 bail.

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