ChatterBank0 min ago
Mental health
12 Answers
There was a time (not long ago) when if you hopped about in the street pretending to be a frog just because you liked doing it, you would have been 'put away' in a mental institution. Nowadays (rightly) this is not the case. But why was it done in the past? Serious question - asks about our society.
(hop hop) :-)
(hop hop) :-)
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I think is the past we locked away anyone "different" without a thought as to whether they were a danger, their human rights and quality of life.
maybe many of us might have a 2 week frog stage (okay, not me!), but to be locked up for the rest of your days because of it, and then go into major decline is unacceptable. realistically, we may be able to treat the harmless frogs and they might get over it......
that said, we have some major fruitcakes out there, and it's just a matter of time until another one of them loses it..
maybe many of us might have a 2 week frog stage (okay, not me!), but to be locked up for the rest of your days because of it, and then go into major decline is unacceptable. realistically, we may be able to treat the harmless frogs and they might get over it......
that said, we have some major fruitcakes out there, and it's just a matter of time until another one of them loses it..
Single women who got pregnant were locked up in a mental institution for life, too, sometimes - for lack of moral fibre.
In those good old days people who couldn't work were a drain on the local parish or charities, and nobody wanted to employ people who were 'odd'. No sick pay, no therapists on the national health, no support.
Locking them up was the easiest way of dealing with them
In those good old days people who couldn't work were a drain on the local parish or charities, and nobody wanted to employ people who were 'odd'. No sick pay, no therapists on the national health, no support.
Locking them up was the easiest way of dealing with them
Society has always had a deep-seated fear of mental illness. Even today in 2009, when more is known about mental health than at any time in history, there is still a stigma attatched to depression and similar debilitating conditions.
Even though we know such conditions are not infectious, there is a sub-concious avoidance of the condition, and the sufferer - I know, I havd a complete breakdwon twenty years ago and was hospitalised for three months and off work for a year. My immediate family were wonderful, but my in-laws, a different generation - preferred to liken it to a bad does of flu, not somthing I live with on a daily basis.
In less enlightened times, it was the norm to isolate such individuals, where they couldn't frighten the horses! No we have swung too far the other way with a laughable concept called 'care in the community' which is a great excuse to demolish hospitals and build on the land., and leave sufferers to get on with it, surrounded by the aofrementioned society who fears and shuns them.
Our society hates and fears its ill members - that has a few more generations yet before any real change will come.
Even though we know such conditions are not infectious, there is a sub-concious avoidance of the condition, and the sufferer - I know, I havd a complete breakdwon twenty years ago and was hospitalised for three months and off work for a year. My immediate family were wonderful, but my in-laws, a different generation - preferred to liken it to a bad does of flu, not somthing I live with on a daily basis.
In less enlightened times, it was the norm to isolate such individuals, where they couldn't frighten the horses! No we have swung too far the other way with a laughable concept called 'care in the community' which is a great excuse to demolish hospitals and build on the land., and leave sufferers to get on with it, surrounded by the aofrementioned society who fears and shuns them.
Our society hates and fears its ill members - that has a few more generations yet before any real change will come.
Sara - not you? I know I have! :-D
Seriously (to all readers), I remember a double page ad in the TV Times some years ago that advertised for mental health staff. It said 'If you saw a man in a bumbee suit, he might be going to a fancy dress. If he was doing it every day, he might have a mental health problem'.
Just what is mental illness and what is harmless eccentricity? What constitutes insanity? What makes a person 'crazy'?
Seriously (to all readers), I remember a double page ad in the TV Times some years ago that advertised for mental health staff. It said 'If you saw a man in a bumbee suit, he might be going to a fancy dress. If he was doing it every day, he might have a mental health problem'.
Just what is mental illness and what is harmless eccentricity? What constitutes insanity? What makes a person 'crazy'?
The bottom line to your last point has to be whether they are a danger to themselves or others due to their mental state. Sometimes its very obvious and then hospital may be one answer, the old meaning of asylum.
Other times it can be a matter of context or the person ,and how well known and tolerated within the community. This a double edged sword of course as some communities are more tolerant than others
Medication has helped enormously in the last couple of decades and it enables many to live settled lives within the community. Non compliance can be another matter
In my opinion there has been too much emphasis on saving money whereby the cut back in the number of psychiatric beds makes it difficult to get a bed when needed, making early treatment difficult. God forbid though that we return to the days when you could be looked up and the key thrown away for sometimes spurious reasons
Other times it can be a matter of context or the person ,and how well known and tolerated within the community. This a double edged sword of course as some communities are more tolerant than others
Medication has helped enormously in the last couple of decades and it enables many to live settled lives within the community. Non compliance can be another matter
In my opinion there has been too much emphasis on saving money whereby the cut back in the number of psychiatric beds makes it difficult to get a bed when needed, making early treatment difficult. God forbid though that we return to the days when you could be looked up and the key thrown away for sometimes spurious reasons
Lets not forget that some quarters of society considered that the mentally ill were possessed by the devil and did not want �Satan�s evil spreading to the good people of society� so they locked them up and left them to go insane.
Primarily the reason was that they had a lack of understanding, these days we are more knowledgeable about psychology and even have some effective methods of treating or dealing with it. Not just shock therapy either.
Primarily the reason was that they had a lack of understanding, these days we are more knowledgeable about psychology and even have some effective methods of treating or dealing with it. Not just shock therapy either.
Octavius - I don't know how old you are, but in the 1970s we had long done away with the 'possessed by the Devil' stuff, but still put people away for hopping like a frog in the street. The thing is: why did we electrocute people for behaving in a strange or childish way? And could it still happen today?
It would appear to still be a "therapeutic" treatment - if you believe wikipedia that is.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electroconvulsive _therapy
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electroconvulsive _therapy
ECT is still used in some locations, largely for intransigent depression, and some clinicians feel it can be of use, though it is usually used as a last resort treatment. I know it sounds barbaric but footage of people going into severe convulsions is well and truly in the past. and as far as I am aware it is not used for the psychosis type illnesses, so I think your frog hopping man is safe
There have been improvements in psychiatric care but it is still far from perfect and undoubtedly people experience stigmatisation and discrimination, largely due to lack of understanding and tolerance but also exacerbated by the (relatively rare thankfully) examples of dangerous "mad" people.
Care in the community is a great idea in principle but it was largely driven by the thought it would be cheaper than keeping the old asylums going. In reality it should never have been a cheaper alternative. However, and a very large however, was that some were locked up for life because they were a bit slow, offended the morals of the time as with unmarried mothers, as well as those who were mentally unwell. Believe me there were people locked up from teens to death in their seventies or eighties. Truely horrendous
There have been improvements in psychiatric care but it is still far from perfect and undoubtedly people experience stigmatisation and discrimination, largely due to lack of understanding and tolerance but also exacerbated by the (relatively rare thankfully) examples of dangerous "mad" people.
Care in the community is a great idea in principle but it was largely driven by the thought it would be cheaper than keeping the old asylums going. In reality it should never have been a cheaper alternative. However, and a very large however, was that some were locked up for life because they were a bit slow, offended the morals of the time as with unmarried mothers, as well as those who were mentally unwell. Believe me there were people locked up from teens to death in their seventies or eighties. Truely horrendous
The village where I live had one of the largest mental hospitals in the country (if not the biggest) sited on the edge of it. It was in its own grounds, had its own railway branch line and station, its own farm, church and cemetery. It was virtually self sufficient for many years. It was virtually closed down a few years ago, though there is still a (very) much smaller medium secure unit there. When it closed down a care home was opened for some of the people who used to live in the hospital. Many of them are still there, though there are plenty of new residents aswell. I'm sure that in the past there were many people who were placed in these mental hospitals that really shouldn't have been there, but I think that these days there are plenty of people out there who are struggling with mental health and could benefit from being in a hospital. It seems to have swung from one extreme to the other.
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