Museums on prescription: Brussels tests cultural visits to treat anxiety
theguardian.com
theguardian.com
Non-medical interventions are perfectly fine but should not be legislated without consulting medical professionals. Have there been research trials that show museum visits are superior to other self-care activities? Politicians should never be allowed to legislate medical treatment like this. This isn't much different from legislating ivermectin as a cure for COVID.
Even worse, this new law trivializes the challenges of living with mental illness and undermines the work of mental health professional, who have spent decades educating the public that treating depression goes far beyond "getting yourself out there" or "taking a break." If you're feeling depressed enough to see a doctor, a free museum visit is unlikely to do anything for you.
I am sure if you polled psychiatrists in Brussels and asked them what they would most like to do for their patients, a free museum visit would be at the bottom of the list. Maybe they would suggest a free gym membership. This is just a cultural subsidy in disguise.
The politician approved their involvement with a six month trial run by several hospitals. The politician is involved because they are in charge of the museums offering tickets.
>Even worse, this new law trivializes the challenges of living with mental illness and undermines the work of mental health professional, who have spent decades educating the public that treating depression goes far beyond "getting yourself out there" or "taking a break."
Not really a law, and it would be your health professional that suggests the program in addition to other treatment, and then consults you about it before and after the trip.
You can be cynical about this news story, which is likely politicians saying "we're helping you see?" But the actual program seems to have more behind it than your post suggests.
Looking at the big picture it is good to see the government try to improve quality of life. Things like reduced traffic, increased greenspace, and access to activities can play a role in treating / reducing illness. The government still should not be promoting museum visits as an effective treatment component for mental illness.
I honestly think museums should be free / low-cost for everyone in any case.
I'm not sure, all I know is what was in the article. It mentions it was based off a similar program somewhere in Canada. Wherever it originated, it still would have had to pass the hospital review, but both groups are liable to do something for PR.
And while there may be better things the government could do, they also require far more work and money than this program that involves giving out tickets to museums.
I also find state mrun museums charging to be strange, but that's a separate matter.
I don’t see this law as trivializing the treatment of anxiety, I’ve seen it be treated across multiple patients over a course of a quarter century and I would say probably “get yourself out there” was the most common treatment option used across many visits because being housebound tends to make the anxiety issues people are worried about enough to go to the doctor about worse.
I’ve also generally seen practices like children and dependant adults with autism (who usually have comorbid anxiety) getting guided through all manner of public places with social workers and guided to do various tasks and a huge objective of such efforts is to soothe any anxiety issues in such exchanges. I’ve seen quite a lot of this actually at significant public expense.
In any case if you read between the lines this story essentially means people with anxiety can go to the museum for free and that’s probably a positive development since we want to remove any potential barriers to the anxious getting out of the house (poverty is another anxiety comorbidity).
I don't understand what you are on about. This is an option. Nobody forces people to participate. Nobody forces the medical professionals to prescribe it. Nobody even forces the medical professionals to consider it in any case.
> If you're feeling depressed enough to see a doctor, a free museum visit is unlikely to do anything for you.
Yes. The first sentence on the page: "Brussels tests cultural visits to treat anxiety". So we are talking about anxiety here and not depression. The second sentence on the linked page: "Psychiatrists in the city can now prescribe free visits to cultural venues to complement other treatments" So it is, even if prescribed, recommended in addition to other treatments. And again. It is optional.
This comes off as electioneering, which it probably is. It still is not a bad idea.
https://globalnews.ca/news/9061709/veteran-medical-assisted-...
Things like this seem to be tracing the gradual turn of rigorous science-driven disciplines into something else.
And lots of medicine isn't drug based! Would you write the same comment about the idea of a doctor prescribing extremely studied therapy such as CBD?
I'm assuming the prescription is just for bureaucratic purposes to determine who pays for the museum entry fees
Modern art was CIA 'weapon'
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/modern-art-was-cia-...
Science being the pursuit of knowledge through experimentation and peer review. "The Science" being the use of the imprimatur of scientific legitimacy as a political forcing function and illusion of neutrality to direct money and power in support of one's priorities.
Using science for power the same way the establishment used to use religion for power.
If this museum visit scheme came in the form of a pill, it would require years of trials and data proving its efficacy. Why are politicans allowed to bypass the EMA?
And second, quite a lot of medical interventions or lifestyle recommendation don't actually have "years of trials and data proving their efficacy" - never did. The years of trials thing happen with drugs, because they are high risk. It does not happen with run of the mill "try to rest on bed", "take walks" kind of advice.
That means we are left to solve an urgent and life-altering problem with relatively artisanal techniques that center around our intuitive understanding of the world and of human psychology. This can take the form of therapy with a licensed professional (which is still an artisanal undertaking) or it can be the individual centering on what they know about themselves and their circumstances and 'tricking' their brain into being functional again, on the basis of the condition being hypothetically tied to our subconscious perception that things are going poorly.
… or an arts center. In Brussels the Bozar stands out as particularly cool. I caught some great concerts there during a night soirée there last week, including Anouar Brahem Quartet and Arve Henriksen with Janne Mark and friends.
Free?! Now we are talking !
What I would like, however, is free visits to Starbucks. Perhaps that makes me a simple guy, but I just love a good cup of coffee if I am feeling a bit down. It jabs me right back to reality and rationality usually.
https://www.micropia.nl -- A museum of microscopic life. With actual living exhibits and a bunch of microscopes you can play with. They have a lab on site to maintain the exhibition. How cool is that?
https://www.teylersmuseum.nl/en -- Loads of old fashioned, steampunk-looking gadgets. Leyden jars, old microscopes in brass, that kind of thing.
https://www.hnf.de/start.html -- Heinz Nixdorf Museum, the largest computing museum. You get to play with a working phone exchange and a whole bunch of other stuff.
https://www.rmg.co.uk/cutty-sark -- Cool ship, and you can also have lunch under it, because the whole thing is suspended over people's heads. There's a huge and very nice park nearby too.
https://frammuseum.no/ -- Ship that was used in Arctic and Antarctic exploration
https://norskfolkemuseum.no/ -- Norwegian Museum of Cultural History. Close to the one above.
https://15kop.ru/en -- Museum of Soviet Arcade Machines. Probably not the best time to travel to Moscow, but maybe when things quiet down.
Now, almost any museum is interesting; the displays and exhibits will connect to things I already know about, places I have been, history I have already learned, cultures I've experienced, and something in my accumulated wisdom will make a new connection and fit better.
Eventually it reaches the point where things that should sound like parodies, like a museum of drainage, becomes genuinely interesting.
There are plenty museums full of cool stuff that's either interesting them, or can be played with, or are outdoors and can be handled as just a pleasant walk through a cool looking place.
The museum was aimed at children and the exhibit consisted of many practical "magic tricks" illustrating some piece of science or technology. Things such as electromagnets, refraction effects, color theory, optical illusions, simple mechanical devices, simple chemistry experiments, etc. For example I remember first learning about the brachistochrone curve at this museum, even though I was too young at the time to know or care about its name. Or that you could use red cabbage juice as a natural pH indicator.
Unfortunately the museum never got much funding or interest from the government, and at some point the museum was destroyed (possibly illegally) to make room for a shopping mall.
Looking back on it, I find it funny that out of all the amazing things there (a full sized rocket, some kind of capsule you could actually sit in and play with the controls on), the thing that continually fascinated me the most was a little audio visualiser with a microphone, so when you spoke into it the line would deform.
What do these have to do with one another?
As long as you have any interests there should be museums relating to those.
I think museums and cultural outings are excellent ideas and there should be partnerships among them to welcome the mentally ill with open arms. I would imagine that these programs are already in place for school children and various disadvantaged populations. I wholeheartedly support their expansion, because good mental health is about much more than medication and medical treatments, it's about having good social experiences which are guided by professionals and benefit the whole community.
The human mind/body is an amazing thing.
And does the British Museum still have that security line outside where your bags are thoroughly checked¹ for bombs by some underpaid person who takes out his frustrations on visitors? Yeah, that's good for your sanity, that is.
1: Glossed over while being berated for not following mumbled orders fast enough.
You get in the train, laptop open, have a workday, get some food or whatever you need if needed. Boom! Arrival.
Can't say the same for Ams-Lon or Lon-Ams.
It's not likely to have gotten better now post-Brexit either.
It's such as a shame, because Britain really does have its upsides and genuinely nice people too; not to mention a wealth of culture.
1: As you say, travelling to Germany (or Austria, Italy, Belgium, even Switzerland) by train is just great.
I'll take a manned gate any day.
1: Yeah, I'll move on when she's OK, now either help or kindly fuck off, mate.