THE INSTITUTIONALIZATION OF MENTAL HOSPITALS

The Institutionalization Of Mental Hospitals



The Institutionalization Of Mental Hospitals

Introduction

“The blunt realities of mental illness shatter our most deeply held convictions about the nature of human consciousness and behavior…The mentally ill are more different from us than we imagine and more like us than we care to admit”(Bosco 131). History has created many different ways to handle the mentally ill as part of society. Unfortunately, the mentally ill need to be treated and cannot be ignored. An evolution from many inhumane treatments to current treatments has been seen, yet society is currently in a crisis in handling the mentally ill. Great controversy arises on how the mentally ill should be handled in society. As the problem intensifies, it becomes clear that new methods are needed. The past methods of handling the mentally ill have had negative results on both society and the mentally ill.

Deinstitutionalization, the process of closing many state institutions began in the 1950s following the release of many anti-psychotic drugs. This process led to other methods of treatments for the mentally ill, which are better suited for their needs. According to some, institutionalization harms most mentally ill people and better care programs have been developed throughout the years. Unfortunately, these programs were not completely well thought out or implemented. The process of deinstitutionalization is intended to give more hope to the mentally ill whom institutions were harming. While this process was well intended based on the promising future of these drugs, it appears to have failed. Many state run institutions were closed down and released the mentally ill onto the streets. Some believe that institutions caused more harm to the mentally ill, who should be able to make their own choices and lead their lives independently outside the institution. The programs thought to replace care given in institutions were not nearly adequate. These programs, attempts to place the mentally ill back in society to be helped by the community members, day programs, and medications were not fully implemented to the full extent needed to replace institutions. This process led to an overwhelming number of mentally ill loose in society, becoming criminals due to lack of treatment.

Reason for Deinstitutionalization

Psychotherapy is, to many people, an ineffective treatment. Some psychotherapy often harms the conditions of patients, in a similar manner that institutionalization is said to harm patients. The mentally ill are also not considered for malpractice, thus the therapy is not always perfected or doctors are not always well trained yet still perform without risk of doing something to harm a patient. Continually, many definitions and treatments for psychotherapy broaden the scope of mental illnesses so much that almost anyone is considered to be mentally ill (Roleff 72). A treatment designed to work for most of the population, according to many results, cannot possibly tailor to the seriously mentally ill.

Another misconception is that electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is an effective method of treating many types of mental illnesses and should be implemented more ...