I Wasn't Going To Post This

[Jackalope]

The point is, several factors converged to ensure we don't have as many long term facilities to take care of the more extreme cases of mental illness. And while we technically know better, society's response to mental illness hasn't really changed that much.

^^^

In no small part, we took those extreme cases, took them out of the frying pan (institutions) and into the fire (homelessness).

Baby, meet bathwater.

I long for the day when we have a system of compassionate , dignified treatment for those afflicted by mental illness who have no other support system. The system in this country is fine - if you have money, just like every other goddamned thing.

[Shell B]

There was a massive push for de-institutionalization for very good reasons, even apart from the abuse. Most of these people could live in society and have relatively productive lives. It's better for most mentally ill people to be with families than in an asylum. De-funding surely played a role, but all in all, the move toward community mental health care was a compassionate one.

That said, I don't think media (television, movies) are to blame for the bad rap mental hospitals get. They are a fucking horrible substitute for care. They're only purpose is to keep you from killing yourself or someone else within their walls. The drug abuse community and the mental health community are so mixed up that every single person who enters these low-rate hell holes is treated like a drug addict. Anxious people are forced to sit in line waiting for meds while addicts scream at the nurses about the time they prefer to take their methadone. Depressed people have to sit during fresh air breaks and listen to people talk about their most recent binge that landed them in the mental hospital on the same floor–somehow. Bipolar people have to sit in "group" and watch documentaries about heroin addiction that have absolutely no fucking relevancy to their problems. Between de-institutionalization and the addiction epidemic, there is no more room for the mentally ill. You can stay at home and get local treatment or you can go fuck yourself.

[Jackalope]

^^^

I have spent time in mixed inpatient facilities and everything Shell says above meshes with my experience​.

That being said, my most recent happy fun time staycation was amongst people who were simply mentally ill.

While it's true that a lot of addicts have comorbid mental illness and need to get the appropriate care, I think that different approaches are often required for those with and without drug addictions.

P.S. A few of the patients were homeless. They didn't have a lot of options for care after discharge.

[Shell B]

Yep. There were a few homeless patients in with me too. One of them has since died. He was sent to a halfway house after that he left. He wrote me a few days before he died to see how I was doing. I said I was great. He said he was too. He lied.

100% agree about addicts needing to be separated. It was the single-most distracting thing, and the thing I think diminished the care I received the most. Dual diagnosis is a different monster. I feel awful for addicts, and met a bunch a liked a lot, but their behavior was more alarming even than the guy who thought he was the CEO of a corporation on an island far away and had business meetings with the wall in the break room. With two huge exceptions, they were mostly needy and whiny and difficult to deal with. They interrupted group constantly. They played out their own little emo dramas on the ward, starting cliques and arguing with staff fucking relentlessly. They were also the fucking worst food nannies in the world. They would count what people were eating and complain if the food they wanted was gone. There was even a girl who would lick food so people wouldn't eat it. She wasn't mentally ill. She was a bitchy alcoholic detoxing.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

They're only purpose is to keep you from killing yourself or someone else

That's why I was there.

Boru

[brewer]

Shell and CD, wow, just wow.

[chimp3]

There are still Psychiatric hospitals. It is the long term institutionalization of patients that is shunned. ECT is still performed and is considered an effective treatment for depression that does not respond to medication.

That part, I admit I'm aware of. The point is, several factors converged to ensure we don't have as many long term facilities to take care of the more extreme cases of mental illness. And while we technically know better, society's response to mental illness hasn't really changed that much.

Our State Hospital had to open it's own long term care facility to care for those cases. I work in long term care and we do have some residents with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, etc. They are stable but at times they do have to go to inpatient psychiatric settings. Usually a privately owned institution. The state hospital tends to be for those at severe risk.

[Minimalist]

I think that different approaches are often required for those with and without drug addictions.

That flies in the face of the one-size-fits-all mentality. 

How many times have you read a story in which the victim or suspect (depending on whether the cops kill him or he kills someone else) are described by a relative as "fully functional when taking his meds.....but then he'd feel better and stop taking them."

[Jackalope]

Shell and CD, wow, just wow.

???

Not sure what you're referring to.

[Shell B]

They're only purpose is to keep you from killing yourself or someone else

That's why I was there.

Boru

Sure, lots of people are there to keep society and themselves safe. It'd be nice to get a little treatment for the cause at the same time, given that it's supposed to be a health facility.