The history of Geel, and the future of mental healthcare

> In recent decades the ‘two-layered system’ – family care supported by a medical safety net – has been constantly adjusted to reflect developments in psychiatry. The most abrupt shift came in the 1970s, as the asylums emptied and mental healthcare was reconceived to become more flexible and extend further into the community. Antipsychotic and antidepressant medications, central to the new treatment model, were initially resisted by many families who felt they would turn boarders into medical outpatients, but they soon proved their worth in helping to manage the worst of the depressions, crises and public incidents. (emphasis added)

Robert Whitaker is an investigative journalist who has looked into the claims of proponents of psychotropic drugs. He has found the evidence supporting their use to be lacking, and makes the case that these medications create and maintain the conditions they supposedly treat:

http://www.madinamerica.com/2016/07/the-case-against-antipsy...

My friend needed sobriety, but all she got were tranquillizers. She briefly escaped from her tormentors, and her new treatment providers allowed her sedation with anti-psychotics to lapse. She was given the SSRI she asked for, which she thought had helped her before. But Serotonin is NOT the 'happy chemical' - the drug caused rapid heartbeat, resulting in tremendous anxiety. She took her last benzodiazepine (class of addictive anxiety medications), which caused her to 'fall apart'...

sigh ...

http://www.wnyc.org/story/invisibilia-problem-solution/

Some great interviews in there, IIRC.

I used to have a good one near me that had a STEPS program that worked quite well. It was shut down as part of the ACA act. I had to go to another hospital farther away that treated all patients like criminals and had everything locked down. STEPS would have a level 1 to 4 that patients could earn privileges like wearing a belt or shaving themselves. This new system in the hospital I went into they can lock down everything and you have to ask a nurse or technician to get it for you or help you with it. There are so many patients that they can't all get showers or shaving or new scrubs etc. In Steps we were allowed to wear our own clothes and underwear and stuff. In the new system you wear disposable scrubs, footie socks, and disposable underpants. You can't wear a watch or have any clocks or anything in your room. The only clock is on the wall near the staff desk and it is hard to see by your room.

I am certain Geel has a STEPS program and other stuff that doesn't lock things down like a prison. If a person is depressed, you don't throw them into a prison like environment and hope they get better, you have to have a better environment than that.

We need more mental hospitals that aren't run like prisons.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/psychiatric-community-care-belg...