In 1968 I was incarcerated in a psychiatric hospital in County Londonderry for six months. Those ABers from NI will know which one I am referring to.
During that time I, as a young teenager, saw and experienced exactly what those vulnerable patients on the programme last night saw and experienced.
I watched that programme in despair. Nothing has changed in the intervening decades. It is heartbreaking.
During my time in the hospital I saw many episodes of restraint and physical abuse.
The overall ethos amongst the majority (although not all) nursing staff was one of scorn for the patients, who were treated as if they were all "doing it deliberately" to annoy the nurses.
The worst, the very worst, example I saw, which still haunts me today, was one patient in particular - a young girl of only 11 years, struggling to find peace of mind in an adult psychiatric ward. She had been transferred there from the local Nazareth House, a childrens home run by nuns. today, we are aware of the abuses that took place in these children's homes. For that young child, it was out of the frying pan into the fire.
The child was chatty and pleasant some of the time but occasionally she would go into a screaming tantrum, upon which four nurses or orderlies would pin her down while a fifth forced a wooden object into her mouth to prevent her jaw locking and a fifth removed her lower clothing to inject her backside. This happened in full view of other patients and visitors.
While they were holding her down, the nurses constantly swore at her, called her names, told her she was a ***n b****h, described in detail how useless she was and how she would never be any use in this life. They were merciless in their physical and verbal attacks on the child.
I often think of that child and wonder what kind of adult she became. Did she ever find peace of mind? I think it is unlikely.
The programme last night brought back so many unhappy memories.