Bring back asylums...but better

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If you hear the word “asylum”, it most likely conjures creepy, horror vibes. Mental hospitals have long been the source of mystery and curiosity, but what if I told you that we need to bring them back. Just...better. Thanks to deinstitutionalization, psychiatric beds have disappeared at an alarming rate in the past fifty years. But let me say that, overall, I think that's actually been harmful to mental health care. So let's take a deep dive into the complicated past of these scorned institutions and see what kind of role they should play today.
Chapters:
0:00 The legacy of asylums
2:55 Shifting thoughts about mental illness
5:33 Moral treatment and the first asylums
8:00 The steady decline
13:21 Deinstitutionalization
16:11 The failed promise
18:26 Getting yelled at
19:05 The argument for reopening asylums
25:12 My personal experience
26:32 Swinging the pendulum back
28:52 What would modern asylums look like?
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[@jadesnowdee8221]

How NOT funny that there is no money for helping people who struggle with serious mental disorders, but there is a lot of cash for paying people like that security guard who is watching over that empty building 🙈

[@jackesioto]

Yeah, it's ironic we have no money for treating the mentally ill, but we do have the cash to keep arresting and throwing them in jail!

[@basketballfan5763]

Well noticed!

[@UmbreonMoonlight]

Come to think about it yea we can't get rid of poverty but we can pay people to watch a empty delegated building

[@lphelps775]

If I get homeless I plan to go to one of these empty buildings because it was for me in the first place and no where to go regardless of what anyone else says, because people with dementia ruined it by having to be treated too when they didn't have a medical mental health condition.

[@barbaramatthews4735]

The irony

[@iPsychlops]

As a mental healthcare provider that lived in San Francisco for several years, it always broke my heart to see people suffering that could have been much healthier and happier in a place where they had access to around the clock care, medication, and shelter. I think your analysis was very well done.

[@THEROOTMATTERS]

YOU LOST ME AT "MEDICATION" THERE IS NO CHEMICAL CURE AND THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS MENTAL ILLNESS. DO RESEARCH. THERE ARE PEOPLE WHO EXHIBIT DIFFICULTIES NEGOTIATING DAILY LIFE. AND THOSE WHO DO NOT LIKE IT WHEN SOME EXHIBIT SUCH DIFFICULTIES. DO WE NEED HOUSING FOR THESE, YES! WE NEED HOUSING, NOW! AND NEED PEOPLE TO OWN UP TO THE FACT THAT PSYCHTROPIC DRUGS ARE DOING HARM AND CAUSING DEATH TO THOSE TO WHOM THESE TOXINS ARE BEING FORCED ON. CALIFORNIA IS CURRENTLY FORCING DRUG COURTS ON THE HOMELESS, IF THEY TAKE THEIR POISONS, THEY MAY GET A PLACE TO LIVE INSIDE, NOT OUTSIDE. WHEN ARE WE AMERICANS GOING TO STOP COOPERATING WITH BIG PHARMA'S BOTTOM LINE? WE ALL NEED TO TAKE A REAL DEEP DIVE INTO HARM PSYCHATRISTS ARE CAUSING...

[@redremi83]

In Belgium this exists. Psychiatric care centers. People are heavily medicated there though

[@VestalNumbre]

All are sinners there is no way to fix that . 16 All Scripture is inspired of God+ and beneficial for teaching,+ for reproving, for setting things straight,+ for disciplining in righteousness,+ 17

[@owene.ahearn902]

Right?! And a bunch of them would be back to “normalcy” had they been given full-time treatment to get clean, against their will if need be.

[@Monitice]

​@@VestalNumbre Go in the naughty corner, the adults are talking. Be quiet.

[@Moerocha62]

As a social worker, I remember when Regan cut funding for mental health care. I met a psychiatrist who was literally looking for his patients who were living on the streets. They were released from their facilities with no place to go. This was a fantastic video. We have a long way to go to provide adequate mental health care in the US. Levels of depression and anxiety dramatically increased during the pandemic also. Those with money can afford expensive facilities which accept cash only - from $35-75,000 per month - and some of them are excellent. But most people don’t have that kind of money. Aren’t all people worth the same excellent care and compassion?

[@the7thcrest353]

Yes. I literally asked for a pencil and paper in the psych ward and wrote an essay of my own volition about my frustrated experience with the mental Healthcare system. Maybe I'll publish it at some point. But this is a big deal though: cost is a HUGE factor in mental healthcare.

[@dianewaldrop8931]

Reagan did a lot of good things but I say that is all lost in the worst thing he ever did--deinstitutionalizing the USA and defunding mental health care. I despise Reagan because my family is living in HELL because of a severely mentally ill family member who cannot be controlled.

[@VestalNumbre]

16 All Scripture is inspired of God+ and beneficial for teaching,+ for reproving, for setting things straight,+ for disciplining in righteousness,+ 17

[@mattgilbert7347]

Yes. Neoliberalism. It started in the 70s and crystallised under Reagan in the 80s.

[@lizc6194]

My husband volunteered as a young man at Greystone before they closed their doors in the 90s. He played piano and helped with their music therapy program. He said it was a very compassionate environment and a lot of these patients had no family that would visit them. He also remarked on how beautiful the archetecture was.

[@stevengill1736]

My experiences at Napa State Mental Hospital was similar - there were many therapeutic programs that seemed effective to me, and the volunteers that came in were greatly appreciated by staff and patients alike. I saw many people arrive there in tatters, incapable of taking care of themselves and later the improvement was almost unbelievable - just having food and a safe place to stay helped a lot. I don't know, it seems like there's some people that need long term help, and putting them in homeless camps isn't it. I dunno how they'd pay for it, but some kind of asylums would probably save money in the long run....

[@MichaelThomas-ll1hw]

I agree. Parkdale Toronto is full of people wandering the streets who seriously need help. They’re a danger to themselves and others. One guy tried burning down an entire apartment complex, was arrested and was on the street 48 hours later. Jail is not the place for them, but neither are homeless shelters and tents.. or most often just the sidewalk. From my understanding, when they’re arrested they’re deemed mentally I’ll and assigned a case worker, and then mental health services, medication etc… but they are released and don’t exactly prioritize picking up their medication/making appointments. People in Toronto are quite sympathetic to their situation, but the violence scares people, and that fear is fuelled by their lack of understanding, which turns to resentment and dismissal… We have so many young people entering the mental health field, I don’t see why we can’t build ethical and compassionate asylums… treatment is usually cheaper than the side effects of not being treated

[@jamespatrick20906]

I’m really impressed with your comment, if you don’t mind can we be friends?

[@pinchebruha405]

@@jamespatrick20906 dont you love it when you find a gem in the comments. I wish there was a way to reach out for friendship. Just know it’s scary because people are not recovered from lockdowns

[@connecticutaggie]

When we visited Alcatraz, they had a great presentation on how prisons have become the new Asylums in the US since there is often no places for people with mental illnesses and thus often end up as homeless and resort to drugs and alcohol and eventually end up in prison - which is not what prisons were designed to house.

[@jackesioto]

The mentally ill are more likely to commit crimes, albeit usually of the non-violent type, and because imprisonment is the catch all penalty for almost every crime, they're far likelier to end up in jail. While jails and prisons sometimes have dedicated ''mental health'' pods, they do little to help mentally ill prisoners. Those who don't end up in the revolving door that is the criminal justice system often land up in homeless shelters and group homes. Homeless shelters typically just give food and lodging, not any mental treatment. Also, the majority of street homeless (as opposed to those couch surfing or living in vehicles or hotels) have some kind of mental condition., and treating them would make these people likelier to be able to secure steady employment and thus able to afford a liveable vehicle or somewhere with roommates, if not an apartment or house of their own. Group homes meanwhile, have become like mini versions of the lunatic asylums, in that they're prone to abuse and conditions can be below the minimum standard. I've heard kilotons of horror stories from group homes, like staff abusing residents, residents essentially having no real liberty, a continuation of the Covid insanity around three years later (many dress residents in full face shields and sometimes, cleanroom suits and require extreme social distancing [beyond the 2 yard\1.8 meter distance recommended and sometimes required] even when outdoors)

[@dorisfaust8965]

So true

[@eugenetswong]

That's amazing to see. I wouldn't have guessed that they would talk about that, but it makes sense that they would. On an off-topic note: I don't think that people should be required to have insurance for mental health care. We don't see prisons requiring insurance for anything, and yet here we are with mental patients getting care in prisons. If we already spend money on it, then we can design a system for channelling the funding. This video is all about the US, but it applies equally in Canada. We should view all forms of institutionalization as a necessary cost saving measure to provide the most care for the average.

[@connecticutaggie]

@@eugenetswong Yes, it is a very complicated issue. One of the biggest issue is who pays for it. Also, there is the connection between mental illness and drug abuse.

[@cathy7382]

How could there be a presentation at Alcatraz it's been closed for many yrs

[@Shindai]

As someone with a medical diagnosis of "your brain's fucked," I could benefit in theory from an inpatient stay for a couple of weeks of just being away from the world, catch my breath, recover, be taken care of for a bit. But there are so many horror stories I'm not sure I could ever be convinced to be committed, it's a nightmare to agree to a certain period and then be deemed too ill to leave like I've seen in so many stories. Even mentally well people are afraid of that on some level I think, to consider the possibility as someone whose mental illness makes them vulnerable to gaslighting and manipulation, I'm not sure the image of the asylum will ever be sufficiently rehabilitated for me to trust it. But something has to be done, I've been on my own for so long with PTSD, for stuff that happened 25 years ago, that I'm only now in my 30s getting any kind of help with. Something definitely needs to shake up the system, and a shitload more resources need to be dedicated to addressing the problem, so many people are mentally ill to unmanagable degrees, it's a soul crushing thing to deal with on your own.

[@neurotransmissions]

Thank you so much for your perspective! I agree that there are a lot of horror stories about voluntarily seeking care, only to lose that autonomy later on. I think we need better systems in place to determine when safety outweighs personal rights because that's a pretty serious issue. A lot of work needs to be done to rehab the reputation of inpatient care and I think your waryness is totally understandable.

[@RT710.]

A little over a year ago now I walked myself into an ER during an acute mental health crisis, and I was transferred into the hospital’s acute mental health unit. I was there voluntarily, however the providers threatened me with a committal if I were to pursue leaving the facility before they found placement for me into an outside drug rehab facility. I spent 8 rather excruciating days in the hospital essentially as an inmate, albeit with much better accommodations, but without any autonomy nonetheless. On the 9th day I was allowed to leave and found my own transportation to the rehab facility which was about 4 hours away from the hospital. Despite still being a controlled environment, the drug rehab that I went to was very thankfully a pretty nice place. I got to go outside daily, exercise, received counseling- none of which I was allowed at the hospital. I could talk for hours about these experiences, but what I really want to say is I wish that there were places like drug rehabs for people with PTSD, depression, etc. I saw many people at the hospital with depression and/or PTSD who basically just locked in there until their behavior happened to change for the better. It’s inefficient at best, and inhumane at worst.

[@olympic-gradelurker]

I was suicidal and walked into an er and got transferred to an inpatient treatment facility for 4 weeks. It was actually kinda nice, but I was really ready to leave by week 4.

[@thatboringone7851]

To add my two cents to this as a neurodivergent person who can't really manage everyday stuff: Imho the answer is expanding public housing to be widely available and allowing for fully funded assisted living/disability support that is both easily accessible and offered without having to prove you fit a very narrow medical model of permanent disability. Speaking from experience, anything less keeps it out of reach for many who need it, especially to those who are already poor and/or go undiagnosed as long as I did (or even longer). Even in Australia, disability support (the NDIS) and public housing doesn't live up to this because people deciding policy (who often don't know the first thing about people who would use these services let alone what they need) prefer policy centred around gatekeeping, profit seeking, and demonising the poor. Bringing back asylums sounds completely tone deaf when there's still ongoing mistreatment in hospitals and centres where a person stays for treatment of some kind, including stripping people of their autonomy and ignoring a modern understanding of consent where it needs to be ongoing (not just given once before). This isn't a historical problem that was solved once asylums were closed, it's an ongoing one.

[@whenindoubtmutemyownmouth5180]

Many people also get hospitalized for bullshit reasons too, I've had the police called on me for "making suicidal statements" when I absolutely did not say ANYTHING LIKE THAT repeatedly, nobody takes a mental patient seriously.

[@frostnovaomega1152]

I'm from germany and i've been in short term inpatient stay around 4 times now. I couldn't agree more. I am thoroughly disabled due to my mental health, and my boss driving me to the psychiatric hospital was the first time i actually managed to get some care. Outpatient care is just not doable if you are struggling just to get through the day. You gotta be functional enough to handle both regular appointments, and daily life-preservation tasks, and you got to be stable enough to not do something reckless after a session. Not to mention the terrifying and painful ordeal it is to even find a doctor.

[@bloodstoppin]

yes. i genuinely think more moderate term inpatient care would be good for me (3 months to a year or so).

[@mattgilbert7347]

This experience is the norm. It's awful. One can come to the conclusion that the brutal logic of our capitalist system is "these people just need to go away" If you know what I mean.

[@ScopeofScience]

Its ironic to me that similarly to how we're not addressing the underlying issues to mental health... instead of knocking down those buildings or doing something with them, someone is paying for guards to monitor them around the clock, until??? Anyway, this was really interesting! I learned a lot about asylums, and you definitely made me a believer in their potential!

[@kitefan1]

Expensive to knock them down. 20 years ago a chain link fence with police drive-bys would have been sufficient. Now there is a subculture who trespass to ghost hunt or film themselves looking in the abandoned buildings. If someone gets injured while tresspassing, they can now sue the State. Also, people who see the earlier videos (as inset in this video) then want to make their own. Once the State transforms that chunk of land, it would cost them 10 times as much to get it back

[@EmmaKAlexandra]

In 2019, I spent the better part of a year in residential and inpatient care for an eating disorder. I was incredibly lucky. I came out the other side and have been doing well ever since. I wouldn’t be here today if I wasn’t able to spend months in treatment like that. Getting into that kind of treatment was incredibly difficult. It took months for my case to be considered serious enough, and for a spot to be open. The programs all ran at maximum capacity. People came from around the country because the treatment they needed simply wasn’t available where they lived. These were not glamorous, high end programs. They were the kinds of programs that should be accessible to anyone who needs it. But there are so few that people come in sicker than they need to, have a harder time recovering, and have to stay longer. While I was in that program, there was always tension with insurance for everyone in the unit. People would fight their insurance to get into the program. Then their insurance would give them a week or two before insurance would stop paying, and the person would need to leave. These were simply not programs that would be effective with a week or two of treatment. You would see the same person come and go. It was horrible. It felt like everyone was equally worried about their treatment and about how long their insurance would allow them to stay. This kind of long term treatment is needed in mental health. I’m living proof that it can change people’s lives. But our healthcare system doesn’t allow for it for the vast majority of people. It’s literally throwing away lives. We absolutely need more places where people are allowed to heal.

[@neurotransmissions]

Totally agree. Our healthcare system and insurance system need some serious work.

[@larsonfamilyhouse]

💯 I’m glad you’re better:) I feel like he said some people need a few days and others need weeks to try to appeal to ppl holding on to the old stigma of ppl being institutionalized against their will but I think most ppl seeking treatment and those who can be “talked into it” aka shown/convinced it’s the right decision definitely need months and even years in some cases to get things sorted out. Heck, simple drug and alcohol rehabs are often 3, 6, and even 12 months. I hope mental health can be addressed without worrying about any insurance in the future and people can get the care they so desperately need!

[@jamespatrick20906]

I’m really impressed with your comment, if you don’t mind can we be friends?

[@NickLeeds]

What about people who lacked insurance?? I think it is worse for people who either lack medical insurance or just have Medicare or Medicaid

[@rafaelbrgnr]

There's a Brazilian movie about a psychiatrist that in the middle of the 20th century tried to use art therapy to treat mental patients instead of the traditional approach, but as you should be expecting, her approach was not well received. The name of the movie is Nise: O Coração da Loucura (2017). Now, it can be found in Star+, HBO max, and in Amazon prime to rent. She was an advocate for the humane treatment of mental patients.

[@stevengill1736]

That was a good film, I'd totally forgotten about it! Cheers...

[@rachelf6745]

as someone who spent several years bouncing between homeless shelters and still semifrequently visits the local soup kitchen, i can absolutely attest to how many people are in that situation because of inadequate mental health care (at least here, medium-sized city in western canada)

[@gregcoogan8270]

Interesting you say that, because many Leftist liberals in America talk about Canada as some sort of utopia.

[@basketballfan5763]

Well done on your recovery Rachel....

[@MaggieMay1013]

I’m a clinical psychologist. I’ve worked in psychiatric hospitals, community mental health centers, and private settings. This video is 100% spot on.

[@augen1234]

In Australia in the 90s we had an American consultant present our new future where our mental health facility was going to close and release patients into the community. He said that the majority of mental health patients would commit a crime and be incarcerated saying it was cheaper for these people to be in prison than in a mental health facility.

[@rawhamburgerjoe]

Saying the quiet part out loud.

[@Shanonmcnab576]

I completely agree that they should bring them back but better. I have a sister that has mental illness and she won't take medication, see a psychiatrist, she won't go into counseling she won't do any of that stuff. She has hallucinations, she hears voices, she screams and yells in public and makes a big scene. We had to call the police because she refused to leave my mother-in-law's place and jumped in front of a moving car. The police take her to the hospital and the hospital and police release her 6hrs later. She's put a drain on my mother and father as well as the rest of the family. The problem is in order for them to keep her there for months/year against her will she would have to do something major like physically hurt someone or worse. That could all be prevented if they brought something like this back but better than it was back in the day. The current system is failing people with mental health issues as well as failing the victims that are suffering from losing loved ones due to someones mental illness. That could all be prevented but not with this current system that's in place.

[@marygorden2334]

Great job! Our most vulnerable, mentally ill citizens are landing in jails. With the wealth in our country, this generation will be seen as uncaring and ignorant. And, we are not ignorant. So, that leaves uncaring. There are heroes in every community doing amazing work with little resources. There must be community support and incentives for people in psychosis to take their medicines. Where is that support? What are the incentives?

[@Szerith]

What you describe sounds like a closed psychiatry over here. I thought our healthcare was bad, where you have to wait for many months to get a therapist... (public insurance just doesn't pay for enough therapy-places) ... but everytime I hear from the USA, I deeply wonder how on earth that oligarchy has not collapsed yet.

[@RT710.]

Very touching video. An ‘asylum’ is an extremely stigmatized idea, and your video certainly helped me to deconstruct that by giving a history of the phenomenon. I think, at a very root level, mental health and good mental hygiene should be taught as basic curriculum in school. We should be giving children a general awareness of MH, a functional knowledge of coping skills and self-awareness techniques, and a better understanding of the resources available to them. We’ve come a very long way- and we’ve got a very long way to go

[@neurotransmissions]

I couldn’t agree more!

[@the7thcrest353]

I agree that people need to be educated on the basics more. But I think the reason Mental Health as a whole has become so stigmatized is due to social contagion aspects of it. If you're not careful it's possible to talk about mental illness too much and improperly in a way that actually hurts more than it helps.

[@patirwin838]

I have the opportunity to work in the states mental Health department for 18 years, and 13 of those years were spent in the patient accounts billing office at our largest state hospital. During that time, I made a lot of friends, and many of them were not staff. One thing I came to understand is that the mentally ill are the same as us, with the need for compassion, kindness, and to be treated like I would want to be treated. Unfortunately, when I first hired in, I was told that the legislatures basically buried their heads in the sand so they would not have to deal with the problem. Mental health and education were at the low end of priorities back in the '70s '80s and '90s when I was part of the system. I was also told that a third of the patients would get well because of the care that they received, a third would get well in spite of the care they received, and a third would never get well, regardless of the care they received. Yes, we need to institute more compassionate Care, and have a more educated approach to that care, so that we're more alert to things that need to be changed or tweaked in the system. Yes I know it is expensive, but living is expensive, whether you're in a facility or in your own home. This was a great video, and it showed a New perspective that needs to be more publicized.

[@XerxeszOfPersia]

In North Macedonia, patients of PA are treated so bad (they're beaten in a barbaric way everyday, their door room is locked up from 6am to 12pm meaning that patient stay outside of their rooms just because socializing with other inmates. Food is extremely bad; no TV, phones or any kind of technology). The irony is that many of the patients are institutionalized inside PA, so I'm very septic of this idea.

[@rachel39321]

I’m an EMT so I’ve seen this firsthand. I’ve been in favor for asylums for a long time since I live near a city in California (California cities have thousands of mentally ill and self medicating drug addicted homeless people). I don’t blame them. They are given no options for long term care and they are not in their right mind to take care of themselves. But I really saw the need for asylums firsthand when I was working as an EMT in a California city. There’s a regulation/law that people in a psychiatric emergency can be put on a 72 hour hold in a mental hospital. So constantly ambulances are driving the same mentally ill homeless people to the emergency room, and then after a day or night there, we (ambulances) bring them to the mental health facility, where they can stay for two-three days before they are kicked out onto the streets again. A few days later, they get picked up again for the ER or walk to the ER themselves and the whole cycle repeats over and over. I’ve even had patients who’ve admitted they only pretended to be suicidal so they could be put on a hold and get to go to the hospital. Hours upon hours of doctors and nurses and EMTs and paramedics time and bed space in the overcrowded ERs and thousands upon thousands of dollars later, and nothing was gained, no lasting help was given.

[@mattgilbert7347]

Well said. I've been on both sides of the addiction equation (patient and counsellor) and have had more encounters with EMTs than I can count. You guys get it. Cheers.

[@AutisticlyRose]

I ended up in those facilities as they were being closed down in ny state as a child in the 90s. It was a mixed experience because i dealt with staff telling me i was dramatic and what i had experienced hadn't happened the way i remembered it and i was terrified with all these people making decisions for me as for where to go and not explaining things, but looking back the structures and consistency in that enviroment were very helpful. It does make me scared as an adult though because i could send myself to the hospital and not be allowed to leave. Losing my autonomy is a horrifying concept to me.

[@theresab4644]

I couldn't agree with you more. I'm one of those parents you spoke about trying to care for an adult child with spmi. We desperately need better and longer stay residential treatment programs. It is inhumane what the person with spmi has to endure due to the lack of proper care and a proper and safe place for them to recover.

[@Just-a-Merican-Girl]

I'm glad you mentioned the Eugenics issue. Everyone shakes their heads in disbelief at Germany for allowing what they allowed, but a lot of people don't know this happened in America as well.

[@JAMWITCH]

It was an American idea, Germany imported it. See: Madison Grant

[@spookypineapple]

@@JAMWITCH Uhhhhh we didn't do anything nearly as terrible as the Holocaust. Equating this or the Dresden bombing to killing 6 million people is an argument that literal Nazi's make.

[@StefanMilo]

This was an absolutely fantastic video. I can tell sooo much effort went into it and it really has made me think about this issue in a different light.

[@neurotransmissions]

Thank you so much Stefan! 😭

[@StefanMilo]

@@neurotransmissions No worries, where I live in Portland there is a massive problem with homelessness and some of those people clearly are extremely mentally distressed. I had a negative view of asylums for all the reasons you mentioned in this vid but if there was a place for some of these people to get off the streets and receive mental care, I imagine that would be really beneficial.

[@the7thcrest353]

@@StefanMilo this. I fully support this, but there has to be a legal doctorine of consent for these people to risk committing themselves. As seen in other comments here. Many mentally ill people are afraid to commit because they can then be held against their will and can't leave if they are dissatisfied with their care.

[@nidurnevets]

Way back in 1969 I was a psych major at a Long Island, NY College. From April until August of that year I worked as an attendant at Creedmoor, psychiatric hospital. At that point the patients were assigned to various wards according to the neighborhood in Queens, NY in which they lived. I think, overall, there was a real attempt to improve things for the patients on the part of the staff. I think they tried to hire college psych majors, because we would work for the low pay that attendants made, but had a better idea of what mental illness was about than many of the other workers workers. Although, as I remember it, so many years ago, most of the attendants did try to do their best for the patients, at least on this particular ward.

[@helenwood2368]

Thank you for this amazing education tool. I agree with your ideas as I have worked as a mental health nurse for nearly 30 years in one of the remaining “asylums’ in Queensland Australia. It is a place of safety and care and rehabilitation and a place where everyone is respected. It is not utopia but a place that tries very hard to assist clients with their own goals through strategies, group work and support from the wider community. There is definitely a place for asylums as there are trained staff, shared workload and clients can feel safe.

[@Authentistic-ism]

I'd have a panic attack if I got intimidated by security like that. You are very resliient to continue filming and I am very impressed. I'm one of those vulnerable people you talk about and I'm privleged enough to be here consuming this media now sharing it with all i know.

[@lovablesnowman]

You'd have a panic attack from someone (relatively) politely asking you to move? How do you people function at all?

[@phantom8926]

​@@lovablesnowmanthey don't. That's why their lives are miserable.

[@numbdigger9552]

Lmao i'd just call the cops

[@elavihere]

Watching this as a person working in healthcare in a welfare state its so strange and horrifying to see how these services work in America. I currently work in a mental health home (no word for it in English) where people have help available 24/7 but it also is way more of a home for them. We give out the meds but they can make their own food or get it from us. There is always a person there to help but you can still have your own life, some residents even have pets. Of course the system isn't perfect but i can't imagine people being left to the care of their family even us with a full trained team have issues with some of them.

[@NathanielNow]

I live in Canada, so the situation is a bit different, but still has similarities. - Seeing a doctor is free here, and although finding a good family doctor is difficult, it isn't costly - Once I've been approved, there are medication options that are fully covered that I don't have to pay anything towards - There are several mental health options in my city that are either free, or operate on a pay-by-income basis - None of these are long term - Most are symptom treatments with very limited sessions, many of which have wait times of months - Being misdiagnosed is startlingly easy, as is not being diagnosed at all (I had a 30min phone call with a psychiatrist who had full control over what I was diagnosed with, and could remove previously established diagnosis). - You have to prove that you're mentally ill. The problem with that is the amount of paperwork, appointments, interviews, and deadlines requires you to be a healthy person... to prove that you aren't a healthy person. - Although the worst parts of the financial side of things has been (thankfully) alleviated, I'm still dependent on my family. I was very fortunate to have a caring family who weren't resentful. I would not be on this planet without their support. - One small step (like I get a financial gift, I work a small temp job, or my parents sell an asset more than $500CAD) and I'm kicked out without any chance to explain myself. You could see how that might weigh on me. - Very high quality stuff is reserved for those who are suicidal with high risk of actually going through with it. Fantastic for them, but I could use some of the resources as well. I've been in the mental health system for over 10 years, passed between countless professionals. While there have been significant improvements, something's still missing. We don't know what.

[@JAMWITCH]

You are very mistaken. In order to see a doctor you require a home address and will then be put on a waiting list. You are also required to have multiple up-to-date pieces of government I.D. which none of the them have. The medications are not free or close to free, if your lucky it is somewhat subsidized. The waiting list for a psychiatrist in Toronto in over 4 years, so you mine as well say there isn't one. You have be rather privileged to receive any help anywhere, and the only people I know who ever got help were well off university students.

[@candygarfield1479]

OMG! SO GLAD I SAW THIS! my friends aid dropped her in Canada a few months ago with paranoid schizophrenia. Her mom from there but my friend never been there in 55 years born in America.. I got Lyme and didn't know this was going to happen. I was already freaking out, now I'm mad crazy freaked out and got to go get her soon as I can and bring her back home. Left with brother I guess , that she never met, mom's previous marriage. That mom abandon husband and kids for America.. I'm an aid for another friend of ours, and she had section 8 housing with a 2bdrm so she can have an aid. If the current aid has to bail, she was only supposed to live my friend back to this town, where she grew upland everyone knows her. I'm horrified now after reading this. Her mom took care of everything for 53 years. She can't really navigate anything herself period. Congenital deafness too, so her speech reflects that . I only know she is above the falls, but Mom was from up north. I hope she is not that far. Brother has been raised in group homes for childhood menengitis. I can't imagine he can navigate all this and my girl is likely freaked out .. holy crap. She glad I saw this comment, I can show it to her counselor when I go to find out how da fa this was allowed to happen. I was really I'll with dementia symptoms and did not know what was going on for two years, but diagnosed and head clearer.. I got to get her.

[@treefingers6329]

Nice video, I watched it to the end. I have paranoid schizophrenia in remission. I have a job and a flat, and cope just fine so long as I take the olanzapine tablet once a day. You said that people should only receive the minimum required level of treatment, which I completely agree with. I don't think I like the idea of being forced to stay in an institution like that against my will, it would be extremely boring and unnecessary. One thing to keep in mind is the incentives at play. The government will want to keep the asylums at a distance so that when there inevitably is some sort of scandal, they don’t get directly blamed for it. They want plausible deniability, which means subcontracting out the work of running the asylum to a private company. My concern is that the private company will seek more funding for the government, and so they will want to find more people who have mental health problems to stay in their facilities. Maybe they would even hype up the danger that individuals pose in order to continue serving them, so that they can profit from government funding. I’m not saying that asylums are necessarily a bad idea, but we need to think very carefully about the incentive structure of people involved in providing the care.

[@sunnyday6465]

I think you may be right. Once these new asylums become privatized, and they will, making money will be the priority, not the care of people.

[@Mereship]

I’m a psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner and agree with you wholeheartedly.

[@jhlfsc]

I actually agree and feel the same way about orphanages and the untold horrors of unsupervised PAID foster care. However, we have no true sense of just how much of this mental illness is not situational due to the completely astronomical price of housing in this country where people are literally priced right out into the streets and their mental illness stem from or are exacerbated by that experience alone.

[@condyshares]

I am just beginning to write a paper and create my own video on this same topic, and thus, my research now by watching yours and other's videos. You did an an incredible job talking about everything and you oht the video together so well in a way thay was captivating to watch. I'm excited to watch more of your videos!

[@kylebrandenberger2]

Mental healthcare in this country is broken. I think your video highlights an important part of the issue, is the lack of in patient facilities.

[@justplainamerican]

Somehow I stumbled across your video on ESA problems. I found it very insightful and decided to watch this one too. Well done. I so appreciate a professional commentary on mental health issues without obvious political intent. Thank you. I must say that my one opportunity to see a therapist lasted about three sessions. It quickly became clear that this public employee had no idea what he was doing and was in over his head. Worse he seemed to get his jollies listening to people talk about things. I had no way of connecting with someone qualified to address my diagnosis (by a psychiatrist) and who could begin to help me deal with my problems so I live with them. I have subscribed to your channel.

[@TheAcpressure]

During my 20-year run as an operator for the transit district I saw the same people, exactly the same people over and over again on the train. I watched them live and I watched them die during my employment with the district. Last stop, Purgatory!

[@jimmorris5328]

Awesome perspective. My teenage son continues to fall through the cracks of the public mental healthcare available in Canada. We have experienced the repeat cycle of short term crisis care, numerous community organizations, short term hospitalization, etc. His criminal activity has led to interventions from police also. Still, he has fallen short of adequate care, recommended by his medical team, and shuffles through the system. Better options are unaffordable. It doesn't help that children over the age of 12 can refuse support, further endangering their families and/or themselves.

[@thatchicashel8437]

Illinois still has several state run mental health and developmental centers (Asylums). Choate Center is in the town I live in. I used to work there, and am working on going back. Illinois still has several operational centers open. Choate, Kiley, Murray, and actually so many more are still providing care for the people who need it. ❤

[@vikkipink1288]

I’m so glad I found this channel. I couldn’t agree more with this point and thank you for putting together such a well informed argument for these changes so I can share it with more people. When my brother first developed schizoaffective disorder and his symptoms were at their absolute worse I was more afraid than I had ever been for him because I knew if something happened and I could no longer care for him one we would have no options. Also there was a point where I was seriously concerned about him harming himself or others and I couldn’t find anywhere that would take him for more than a week at a time unless it was outpatient and even those eventually got exhausted. Thankfully the most severe symptoms he was having have gotten a lot better but his OCD is just as bad as it’s always been. That plus his high functioning autism means he needs daily care from me. Before my mom was doing it all but she’s gotten older and her health has definitely been negatively affected from being a single mother trying to survive with a child with a disability that needed so much care. What really bothers me is that everything he has wrong with him now has a very strong possibility of recovery but the only problem is there are very few places that provide that kind of specialized care for a long period of time. There is just no resources available to us to treat such a severe case of OCD. Also my brother was one of the people out there whose symptoms for schizoaffective disorder were made worse by antipsychotics. It’s rare but it can happen to certain people. Figuring that is what helped some of those symptoms get better but left us with even less options for treating his OCD. Before the decline of my mother’s health I was already struggling with my physical and mental health but after becoming the sole caregiver for both her and brother with no real help from any family or friends has had a devastating affect on my overall well-being. If nothing changes I will never have a life of my own. I had to give up on my dreams of being a psychologist because I couldn’t finish school. I don’t have the time or energy for hobbies, friends, or dating, hell I can’t even work on bettering my own health. When my schedule is already so full and everything already cost so much spending time and money on doctor visits and treatments for my health conditions when there is no guarantee they’ll work makes it not seem worth it. It’s just so sad that our lives have been wasted due to a lack of help.

[@larsonfamilyhouse]

I’ve held this exact sentiment for quite some time. Probably ever family either has someone suffering or knows of someone. Most people have probably worked somewhere where there’s a known person who continually comes in and could really use the help. I always wonder why processes and procedures aren’t changed and revamped rather than slowly taken away and eventually completely dropped and shut down. It sure would be nice if there was somewhere people could go to get help and families could have the burden lifted while someone receives treatment- like you mentioned, if people stayed a few years and got things ironed out and medication etc. in order and saw improvement it quite well could extend to their life outside of an institution and continue to help ease the families who then would know how to help and what to do. And many people thrive in a group setting like that. You always hear tons of elderly people say how much they just LOVE assisted living and have made new friends and gained a new lease on life and the same holds true for people of all ages, especially ones that may have felt ostracized from their community. In other countries it’s considered the norm to rent a room in a group housing type situation where there’s people of all ages interacting and everyone takes turns cooking for the home so in a complex of say 30 ppl it’s your day one day to cook and then you get to just enjoy the rest of the month having everyone else cook! Single mothers with children and elderly ppl with no family and students and whoever else all thrive living together in a group and I think it would be a very successful situation for those needing metal care to live together in a similar setting where they receive treatment in an asylum- a retreat where they can be helped and cared for because everyone deserves to have a quality of care that can give meaning to their life. Thank you so much for bringing this to light.

[@candygarfield1479]

Yes, my sister is Not a drug addict, she has brain issues from memengitis when she was 5 and then years if ohenobarbitol and rapud withdrawal. A year later at 9 she did speed and coke. Self teating her whole life and drug programs tell you take rspinsibility and dont make excuses. So she never brought up the menengitis ir pheno withdrawal syndrome . ** They gave ohenobarbitol to thoysands of kids in the 70s, almost all have issues fifty years later from the drug.

[@LilacGeese]

In Australia there are some places called Prevention and Recovery Centres (PARCs). Most of them are free to access and they are the step up, step down model you describe. People get referred by a community service or an inpatient unit, get to stay a couple or weeks or a month, and get linked in with services like alcohol & drug support, domestic violence services, and can see specialists in house like occupational therapists (depending on who works at each place).

[@StarMan_2018]

It was really sad what happened to Rosemary Kennedy. Psychiatrists suggested that a lobotomy would cure her mood swings and without consulting her or her mother he just gave permission for them to do the procedure and she was only 23 years old.

[@marcodallolio9746]

There's little to no money in a humane and recovery-focused approach to mental health, so it won't happen, not anytime soon. Also, as a social worker with a decade of experience in mental health, in an outpatient facility in my country, let me tell you, there's more to the cuckoo's nest nurse stereotype than just poor training. In my experience, psychiatric nurses more often than not have disciplinarian and authoritarian personalities, and seem to be pushed to this tough field by a deep drive to correct people that were born wrong. Which is a surprisingly useful attitude, if counterbalanced by other more progressive and validating staff members

[@qjtvaddict]

Jails cost more money

[@fiftyfat]

"Touchy subject... we need our biggest mic for that job !"

[@yoni-in-BHAM]

Just started the video, but I wanted to add that asylums should also be accommodating to neurodivergent people as well. A regular asylum is a sensory overload for us, a total nightmare!! 😳 Edit: Taking care of my mental issues yet sending me into an autistic meltdown because of the sensory overstimulation isn't helpful.

[@Werrabin]

As someone from Germany that has had therapy and a lot of friends that were in psychiatric clinics for several weeks, some of them several times, I totally agree. I'm really glad that we have those specialised clinics. The capacities are far from big enough for the need there is for such places, but in rough cases you can be sure to get help there in some way. I hope mental health continues to get more acknowledgment and to become de-stigmatized

[@Camboo10]

Maybe rename them? Like I feel asylum has a negative connotation.

[@neurotransmissions]

I really wish that the word could be reclaimed, but I get it. Most places have switched to calling them psychiatric hospitals or mental health centers. If we are coming up with new suggestions, my vote is for "retreat".

[@Camboo10]

@@neurotransmissions I like retreat

[@therabbithat]

@@neurotransmissions retreat is good. You can leave a retreat whenever you want, no bars on the windows (well maybe on the higher floors, ok!) Also, mental health problems in Ireland went down during the pandemic. We had the lowest suicide rate in years in 2020. If mental health problems went up in the US it's not because of the pandemic itself or lockdown (Ireland had more lockdowns!), because if it was it would be similar internationally, right?

[@tericroft7615]

I have a close family member who several years ago had a severe acute psychotic episode. As he had been experiencing some depression, he had been prescribed an anti-depressant which is now believed to have triggered the psychosis (it turns out that he is bipolar but had not been diagnosed as such). We were fortunate that we were finally able (after several scary weeks, 3 overnight emergency room visits and multiple police encounters) able to get him involuntarily committed into a mental health facility where he was medicinally treated without his consent. This intervention was able to happen because of his recent aberrant behavior, police reports and at the urging of his psychiatrist in collaboration with several other medical professionals in the emergency rooms he had been to. Once his psychosis was medically interrupted (a matter of a couple of weeks) he was able to return home. Since that time with proper medication, care and education he has successfully resumed his career and normal family life with his wife and children. It was frustratingly difficult to get him treatment as he did not realize he was sick and did not want it. But he is one of the fortunate ones because he had so many to advocate for him. How many other individuals are there who do not have the support and resources he had? They have so little real hope of recovery.

[@kathyschreiber9947]

Wow this is a fantastic look at the history of mental health care in the US. Your ideas are super rational. To implement what you're proposing, the laws need to change from the danger to one's self or others standard to something more focused on the mentally ill person like, unable to provide for one's basic needs for shelter and food. That hospital you're at looks like a nice place to start, if it was brought up to standards. Most folks living on the streets aren't going to go willingly.

[@steamnamebbderinvade__]

Actually many state laws still have clauses where you can commit someone due to "grave disability" which does what you're asking. The only problem is most Lawyers, Judges, and Psychiatrists don't know about this but this is definitely changing though many lawyers still resist. I've seen this firsthand when I was committed for being a danger to myself and others by this black woman in her 20s and 30s who acted exactly like a chill child and was able to leave Immediately after one of my outbursts in the dead of night (I couldn't sleep due to stage 2 starvation). Mind you, this was during COVID when state psychiatric hospitals were seeing a sleuth of Infections so patients had to be transported to private hospitals. I just wish that "grave disability" could get you committed to a group home if available due to disability and Medicaid paying for the expense.

[@SandfordSmythe]

The legal boundary of commitment needs to expanded, before facilities are built. This can be very tricky. And once treatment becomes coercive, things will fall apart, and you will have a custodial institution.

[@Karmah01]

Asylums don't have to be barbaric. Some mentally ill people can live on their own just fine, while those who can't have just become homeless or in prison and it's really sad. There are mentally ill people that need someone to meet their daily needs, to help bathe them, to make sure they get meals, get counseling, get proper medication(s) and have clean clothes. There is nothing wrong with asylums as long as they don't treat people the way they used to.....ignored, unbathed, unfed, naked in the hallway sitting in their own urine and excrement or drugged to the point they have become zombies. We -can- NEED to do better for the mentally ill. We NEED asylums. We NEED to care for the mentally ill in a humane way.

[@stefanyzambrano7325]

Wow!!😲 You guys were literally 20 mins away from me! Would’ve loved to have met you guys🥰 Very awesome video!!!! 💯👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

[@beckystutzman6899]

I worked in the mental health care field for 11 years in a residential facility for adults with intellectual disabilities (including two gentlemen who had spent time in the Pennhurst Asylum in PA). I have gone through this question so many times in my own thoughts as well as with friends and colleges of mine. I just want to thank you so much for your well thought out and well presented information. I couldn't agree with your outcome of thought more! I agree on every part of your logic and wish I was a multimillionaire to begin bringing this to fruition! I have recently come to believe that the greatest way that I can influence change is by doing exactly what you are, by bringing awareness and advocating for that much needed change in the system! Thank you again!!

[@carolbohm9654]

I have agreed with this for decades! Many of the mentally ill need much more care than they get now. Many dont get any help. And many of these that are violent and a danger to society need to be taken care of.

[@berthagarner8256]

I have schizoaffective disorder. I've been hospitalized several times and I have no support system. If u ask me I thInk u should talk w those who suffer w different types of mental illness and see what they think would help them. Of course on a good day when their not having an episode. I could write a book on what helps me and what doesn't.

[@cathy7382]

I also suffer with mental issues in the past I attended some therapy with others in a variety of different types of fun groups it was very beneficial and in addition to that I sought out a mainly talk therapy program that also helped form social contacts and my church brought much needed support Thank God, it really helped in my healing

[@thatboringone7851]

I would really strongly suggest that, instead of attempting to bring back asylums, it would make more sense to both listen to and support current disability and mental health advocates that are themselves disabled and/or have a mental health condition. Some things you might notice a focus on from these advocates are extensive public housing, making disability supports more accessible, making healthcare (including mental health care) vastly more affordable and available, an emphasis on assisted independent living, etc. I'm disabled myself (neurodivergent) and have a handful of mental health conditions. I need support in order to manage everyday life. I don't know anyone in my circumstances, myself included, who wants asylums to come back in some attempted better version. None.

[@neurotransmissions]

I strongly agree with you on having disability and mental health advocates take the lead on this issue. They provide much needed insight and direction on ethical and care considerations. And I agree that there are ongoing deficits in public housing, disability supports, affordable/available healthcare, and independent living. Those should continue to be pursued. However, it's worth clarifying that the argument I make here reflects the advocacy efforts made by mental health advocacy groups. Many mental health advocates have taken up bed shortages as a primary issue and are advocating for opening more long-term inpatient services like those lost when asylums closed. See: www.treatmentadvocacycenter.org/key-issues/bed-shortages www.nami.org/Advocacy/Policy-Priorities/Improving-Health/Medicaid-IMD-Exclusion I would guess that your concern with opening these high-level services is the threat of increased involuntary treatment. I think that is a legitimate concern because that should only occur as a last resort. It should really only be an option when a person poses immediate, serious risk of physical harm to themselves or others and in situations where less restrictive alternatives won't be able to address that risk. Outside of these circumstances, treatment in these facilities should be strictly voluntary. I think that, in tandem with opening more psychiatric hospital beds, it would be wise to enact another policy that advocacy organizations have called for, which is the creation of psychiatric advanced directives. This would enable proper care, prevent involuntary treatment if detailed in the directive, give direction to providers, hospitals, and police, and help families advocate for their loved ones. There are many (including some folks here in the comments) who have benefitted from these inpatient services and have faced difficulties accessing them due to shortages. So I think it's worth considering this from all perspectives. There is a way to do this that gives people help while retaining autonomy and respect for the individual.

[@philippal8666]

We have long term wards (UK). I was a patient on a long stay locked therapeutic ward. It took the mess that I was and I now live ‘normally’ with a carer visiting, studying… I was young when first diagnosed, as are most people. The initial cost has meant that I can live the rest of my life healthily, and productively, being a part of a community, working, paying taxes. That initial, high cost of inpatient treatment (I was exceedingly ill, I won’t go into details but it’s from a horror channel), has paid off in not having to pay for me for the rest of my life. Many people had a forensic history (crime but innocent due to mental illness), we do not let people who get that court ruling go. We keep people who commit crimes due to mental illnesses in hospital and treat, so that that situation is as unlikely as possible not to occur again. Sometimes there’s real trauma behind the crime, that needs to be looked at. Then sometimes it’s a 3 month stay, or a year stay to treat a severe eating disorder. Sometimes it’s 6 months to find the right medication and stabilise someone so they can be reunited with their child. If you treat people, inpatient if necessary, then they don’t commit crimes to stay warm, they can live…. and pay taxes, not cause trouble etc.

[@justins3810]

Great video! I mostly agree with this. Most of the people in prison do have a mental illness and prison makes it far worse. Many people would benefit in a positive way. I found it funny that the guy felt in necessary to basically spy on you as you were doing this. Mental illness is worse because of things like that. Cameras literally everywhere, hacked phones and computers. Extreme tracking of people's personal activities. The government themselves is causing more paranoia. My worry is that like anything government run, they'll always find a way to screw it up. I myself have had experience with being forcefully admitted to mental hospital. They forced a diagnosis just to justify their actions and now I'm stuck with it. What was I forcefully placed into the mental hospital for? Being extremely angry at my custody situation being completely ignored, being treated like an addict by using my prescribed ADHD medication and the abrupt refusal to refill or further prescribe it, ect, ect. Basically I yelled at people on the phone and the cops came to my house and tazed me, handcuffed me, locked me in a room for 24 hours, and then forcefully admitted into a mental health hospital for 5 days. What could they have done better? Listened. To this day still nothing is the way it should be because no one is Listening or considering anything that I say. The government is incompetent and they will never actually ever care. Other than that, I completely agree with you. Great video!

[@leegalen8383]

Excellent history... I'm 67 and the county home/hospital was my 1st job. My sister worked at a state "institute" Those are long gone, the patients dumped into unsupervised group homes or out into the street. I truly believe that this is one of the causes of the homeless crisis. Where we worked back then certainly wasn't fancy but provided a safe, stable home for those who can't take care of themselves.

[@Zectifin]

I used to work at a center that assisted adults with developmental disabilities. One of the things that they taught in the state run class to get certified is how they used to be in asylums with the mentally ill and it was cruel to put them there and they even talked about the Geraldo Rivera exposee that blew everything up. I always felt like they were shitting on those with mental health issues when they said that. After working with them for awhile, I felt like how they run things were also cruel. They live in houses that are rented by local privately owned non profits and either live at the house or are bussed to a day program where they hang out or work. The work is shitty and exploitative. They may waaaay sub minimum wage and some business gets to have some free labor and act like they are doing a service. A lot of them meet friends that they want to hang out with at these centers and the staff don't feel like bussing them over for anothers birthday or to meet their boyfriend/girlfriend for a date. They can't hang out with their friends when they want to and don't get to pick who they live with and are forced to share a house with whoever is assigned to them. I feel like putting them in a large group place, like an asylum that doesn't suck, would be less cruel and exploitative and these non profits are filled with bigwig CEOs and VPs making hundreds of thousands for a very small company and keep giving themselves bonuses and not giving raises to the minimum wage workers who can barely make ends meet, then say theres no money cus the state only gives them so much. They don't need to do this shitty work as some kind of activity. Put them in a large place with lots of their other peers and they can go visit their friends and romantic partners whenever they want to. We used to look at Asylums as keeping the rest of us from having to deal with the mentally unwell and the developmentally/intellectually disabled. I think it would be safer for them and make them happier to put them in a place where they can hang out with those just like them away from all the cruel people in the world who have prejudices against them. Let them still go out on day trips, its not a jail where we're hiding them.

[@silviareyes5267]

Excellent video! Lawmakers need to watch this! Our mental care system in the USA is broken! Laws need to change to serve this vulnerable population.

[@Skywreckdemon]

I think asylums could be good if there was no coercion. A patient doesn't want meds? Don't force them to have meds. A patient wants to go visit family? Let them go. A patient wants to go for a walk? Let them, as long as they're safe to, and if they're not, have a member of staff supervise them on their walk. Etc. I am someone suffering serious mental health conditions and I avoid inpatient because it's all about force there...

[@dannyy8619]

I somehow found this channel again after watching the CTE video. But I didn't realize that this was the same channel that created this asylum video. I know this probably took a lot of work and it can be sensitive subject to broach in today's climate. But this is an incredibly important video that I often refer as a sensible way to help tackle issues with the homeless in cities like NYC, SF who clearly need help and shouldn't be left to be on the street as a danger to themselves.

[@juliekelley8358]

Thank you so much for making this video. I have suffered from depression and anxiety for over a decade and was placed in a behavioral health hospital for a week last summer. It was a horrible experience. The only thing that was done to "help" the patients was to give them medicine. I know things could have been better and the patients could have been armed with coping skills to use after leaving the hospital. I also have a family history of mental illness. I do not like the stigma that is placed on mental illness. I think you're approach is more compassionate than what we have seen. Yes, we do need these facilities. Just look at the homeless that are in their situation because of their mental states. I hope that we can see more advancement in care in mental hospitals and that communities will be more engaged with those that need help.

[@Draconicrose]

I had my hackles up a little at the start of the video but I think I'm convinced now. Bring them back, but better!

[@Kiltoonie]

Lets imagine that these dream facilities were established and funded properly. I can envisage that many marginalised people would queue up to be admitted. Within a few decades, they would be overwhelmed - millions of people would be living there - because they are so nice. Then the funding would dry up... And we would be back to square one: back to 1954 - Which is why I believe that society needs to examine why people get so alienated in the first place. Prevention is better than cure!

[@mirzamay]

I've had 3 family members who desperately need/ needed some kind of care, they didn't/ don't take care of themselves and 2 of them have passed in not nice ways. We have tried to help but do not have the skills or support, we need professionals. It's very sad that as soon as you get any kind of institution, sociopaths will take it over eventually. There's no help for people with serious issues. The one who is still with us we have to watch die in slow and terribly sad self destruction. It is very hard on the family. We take turns trying to help until we are burned out. And the ill ones try to help each other, which turns out to be multiples of destruction. They need compassion and love and someone to take care of the things they can't. They absolutely have things to give to society and family. But they can't fulfill their potential because there's isn't the help to get them past their severe issues.

[@jamespatrick20906]

I’m really impressed with your comment, if you don’t mind can we be friends?

[@user-hq5sp5pi2e]

I’m for it as long as patients are given more rights within the institution. I like the *idea* of psych wards, but everyone I know who’s ever been to one has come out the other side more traumatized from the experience than it helped them. They remove all of your freedoms and then sedate you when you panic. Sedation makes the pain easier for the staff than it does for the patient

[@sharilynwells5172]

A lot of cruelty went on behind closed dopts.

[@abigailb12344]

I LOVED this video. Amazing all around and very informative for school projects. (Dont worry i gave credit.) earned a sub.

[@rodriguezelfeliz4623]

Fantastic video... this channel really deserves a lot more attention

[@sammylincroft]

I have myalgic encephalomyelitis a neuroimmunological disease that affects primarily women. Our friends are fellow patients are to this day forcibly hospitalized and die of starvation or neglect by psychiatric professionals who refuse to believe the (medically and scientifically proven) facts that severe patients cannot walk or excercise. (For example refusing bedpans to "convince" a bedbound patient to walk to the toilet thus leaving them to sit in their own excrement or refusing to bring food to patients to convince them to come into the dining room leading to starvation.)

[@BethanySchwarz5678]

I've worked with the homeless and people with addictions, now with elderly and those with intellectual disabilities. Having opportunity and resources in the community is important and fantastic, but by stripping away facilities has left many without the help they need, leading to dire consequences. Living in the community does not ensure that everyone has an advocate for their care or that people will listen to their advocates. Things continue to get brushed under the rug. This is also excluding the fact that many state Medicaids will not increase their rates, staffing problems, etc has led many community alternatives to facilities to close. For the first time since these changes started in the 50's, it is actually more expensive for Medicaid to pay for community care than facility care (per person). Now, people are forced to admit to nursing homes in their 30s in order to get the care they need. Of course the nursing home staff are also not trained fully on conditions like severe mental illness or intellectual disability and they are instead chemically restrained by a primary care doctor or psychiatrist.

[@gracie979797]

As a former teenage state hospital inmate, I agree with you. And specifically, we need to bring back the moral care asylums of the 19th century which you do not treat fairly in your video. In moral care asylums, the treatment was good food (often largely raised by the inmates themselves), rest, recreation, healthy outdoor exercise, social activities, community (often people from the outside community were invited in to socialize with inmates). These asylums were as successful as modern day ones. Humane moral care methods worked (up until they became crowded with the brain damaged, the developmentally disabled, those with senile dementia). I was in Oregon State Hospital at age 17 on an all ages co-ed ward. At the time, it was run by a shrink who tried to bring back some aspects of moral care, and that was good. We had good food, work assignments, and well-mixed wards where the stronger people were assigned the weaker people to care for. I benefitted from those things: for the first time in my life I was in a community that cared for me, my compassionate ward mates. HOWEVER there were also the things that you envision as "care" - horrible, toxic psych drugs that made one so depressed and helpless, "sleep therapy," electroshock, so-called therapy. If one could avoid the staff and act like their idea of well of they saw you (not too hard as there weren't many of them on those days), you could live in reasonable comfort there (despite the awful drugging and the lack of privacy). So I can really appreciate how moral care worked. It's the only humane option. And humanity, not coercing people in so-called treatment to make people who have had very abnormal lives learn to fake normality so the damned 'treatment' will stop. Yes, bring back moral care asylums, places where people can live comfortably and even pleasurably! (No drugs, no 'therapy' and staff minimal and just to do things like cook, enforce rules like no booze or street drugs.)

[@r.owenwagner6284]

An exciting proposal. We have the people who can serve in this field of mental health, as well as the people who can imagine ways to finance the effort. Yes, this is a matter of mutual benefit for society. I have subscribed to your work and will consider Curiosity Stream. Owen Wagner

[@amygarcia1220]

It’s difficult to simply have decent Ins coverage for therapy/counseling. Sometimes that’s all people need is a professional, unbiased person to help them have perspective.

[@timbcodes]

That guard was the definition of a loser. Stand your ground and keep filming. He’s basically coming to you in public and saying “move along, sir”.

[@Constancex97]

Thank you for your compassion and care for the mental health cause. You did a good job, you showed a lot of kindness to the mentally ill. It's important to see the people behind the mental illness, and treat them with care and respect. And I think you did just that with your video. Thank you :)

[@jayylad38]

i would love asylum care. i would benefit SO greatly from asylum care. when i am suicidal, the only thing that keeps me from killing myself is the threat of institutionalization. someone threatens me with being put into inpatient and i literally force myself out of crisis - because it is *so expensive* and i have *so much trauma* from my last time in inpatient treatment. but i know i would benefit greatly from an asylum facility.

[@FaithOriginalisme]

Well, I didn't learn that much because I'm already on that page.. However, you put this together so nicely

[@cricket2734]

It would be interesting to see if there are any places in the world where they have a compassionate system of care for the mentally ill. I have friends in Europe and in our numerous conversations, I have gotten the impression that things are just as bad there for mentally ill people as here in America.

[@neurotransmissions]

Check out Italy’s system. They also had a deinstitutionalization movement, but actually put money into those community resources.

[@curiosity6580]

I have been a patient in inpatient mental hospital twice, and both times it was horrible experience. In medicine patient is rarely seens as a partner in their medical care and in mental health its even more pronounced. It made me really skeptical about it. I cannot say I changed my mind. But it was an interesting video.

[@johnm3033]

This is a very thoughtful video. To expand your perspective, I’d encourage you to consider that those needing psychiatric care only formed one population of those confined to these institutions - often a minority population at that. Large numbers of people with cognitive differences (like autism), intellectual disabilities, and physical disabilities (which you mentioned) formed a core of the population of these institutions. These were not conditions which psychiatric care was applicable. Their disabilities were largely not understood nor accommodated or supported. Worse, any mental illness these individuals developed - including from their treatment in these institutions - were not adequately addressed. The small population that remains at state hospitals (and they are there) are largely those with cognitive and developmental disabilities. Those who have been reintegrated into society have thrived if matched with supportive living facilities (although many find themselves in facilities which promise supportive and independent living but function as “neo-institutions”). I know tone can’t adequately be conveyed in a typed comment. So, let me emphasize that this is not yelling. Rather, it’s a suggestion that considering this perspective may aide the argument you are making. Thank you for this informative, helpful take.

[@mattgilbert7347]

I remember when the Neoliberal Turn started granting seriously ill people their "freedom". It was the 1980s. Of course it had started much earlier. But that's when i noticed it en masse. It didn't take much thought to guess where this might lead. "Asylums but better" absolutely still exist. If you are wealthy.

[@basketballfan5763]

As the victim of a very serious crime at the hands of a serious mental patient that was loose in the community and all knew he was dangerous and out of this world clearly by his actions....he was also hopped up on drugs I eventually found out....legal antipsychotic and many other prescription drugs for pain and bipolar.....his counsellor told me as he had started stalking her...and she had been told he was a vulnerable victim...she moved to get away from him and had to get a job transfer....and tho he literally nearly killed me....I know he should have been in a protected environment....

[@daruekeller]

done! finally something to do with all that office space going to waste, and a new opportunity for WeWork! Call them Day Asylums and require people to show up five days a week from 8am to 5pm, sit in their assigned seat and "look busy" Therapists and psychiatric nurses will play as Management and conduct meetings as group therapy and there'll be plenty of time for one-on-one sessions, require "patients" to also do some sort of prison-labor like "work". Homeless can for example live on the 22nd floor in a provided Studio and work on the 5th floor in office space. Oh Happy Day.

[@jeczaja5347]

Good for you, tackling hot subjects. Be brave my friend. You're speaking the truth.

[@mikuenjoyerXD]

Asylums still exist but now they're called teen mental health centers. I say this because I had a really bad experience

[@therabbithat]

I was thinking about this too. You put people in a place where they aren't allowed to leave, and you tell everyone they are there because they are crazy and not to be believed, and you think that won't lead to abuse? Maybe with massive funding and training for the people who work there. The US refuses to pay their *teachers* a small fraction of the salary teachers get in most other countries, so will the orderlys in these new asylums will be well paid and well trained and well rested?

[@justins3810]

@@therabbithat probably not if the government is in charge.

[@badoof7803]

as someone who actually loves going inpatient because the outside world is significantly worse for me, i would honestly love nothing more than to live in a modern, humane asylum. ive wanted to go into residential care at a psych ward but they dont take state insurance :)

[@grimlock5990]

I have literally been saying this for several years, this exact thing.

[@I_report_scammers_spammers]

I FIRMLY believe that all people (including the severely mentally ill) should have access to the LITERAL BASE of needs (food, shelter, clothing, sleep) as well as safety and medication & health care. I believe they deserve dignity and decent treatment without condition. Being unhoused provides exactly zero of those needs. Anyone who think that in 100 years, the world isn't going to look back on us and our current treatment of mental health as absolutely barbaric. Mental health medications have side effects that are *completely unacceptable* for any other medication except for maybe cancer. And frontal lobotomies have been done *in living memory* IN THIS COUNTRY. There are some people who are so mentally ill or disabled that they will not be able to live without some sort of supervision and not everyone has families---and some that do have families, the families either cannot or WILL not take care of them, but the outcome is the same. Some would do well with assisted living situations (essentially having their own apartment but with resources available for medical/food/psych meds/etc; others will need more structure and/or longer-term care. But it's gotta be better than the care that we are giving to to ANYONE in the United States right now for ANYTHING. But I do think the word asylum is just too fraught with nasty connotations to even consider using the word. Sanctuary, Haven, those are good.

[@Sun-diver]

You’re free to pay for all those basic needs. Why don’t you?

[@I_report_scammers_spammers]

@I-hate-sundays *galactic eyeroll*.

[@connecticutaggie]

I agree with you points, we need a different approach. One big issue is we need to figure out how to reduce the cost of treating long term psychiatric illness. In Oregon, treatment at the state psychiatric hospital costs $1,324 per day for each patient. That is 30-50 times what is costs to put them in a prison. There is no surprise that this might route more money and patients to prison than to a psychiatric hospitals. I know many people can and will argue that $1,324 per day (or more) is what is needed to support a psychiatric patient properly but, what they don't understand (or are unwilling to accept) is that there is limited money and the choice to hold the line on the dollars needed for "quality care" is having the opposite effect and forcing the majority of psychiatric patients into places where the care they get is neither quality nor sufficient and often far from helpful. Regarding a cost target, I think a starting point would be to look at the cost of adult foster care - most numbers I have seen put that to closer to the $2,000-$4,000 per month and most of these have very high patient to support rations (often 4-5:1). Maybe we should look into a government supported private company implemented model so that the government can provide the standards, the money, and the patients and the public sector can provide the ideas and innovation that keeps the quality up and the cost down. If we are going to have new and better outcomes we need new and better ideas.

[@justins3810]

I agree that we cannot allow government to fully run it. They shouldn't be fully running anything because they do a horrible job. Your hybrid idea is great!

[@thatboringone7851]

Privatisation doesn't lower the cost or raise the (average or low end) quality of healthcare services, especially in regards to mental health, but it sure does guarantee that many of the people who need it can't afford to access it at all, and that service is designed around profitability rather than quality of care. Speaking from experience. Bottom tier idea, 0/10. You're basically asking for corners to be cut when it's already practically a circle.

[@DawnieG]

I’ve been saying this. This was very well put together.

[@rawhamburgerjoe]

Elgin and Chester still exist in Illinois.

[@Buckoux]

Well done. Most Americans do not know the history of America's dismal mental health care policies since the 1960's. It's political, both JFK and RWR had a hand in getting us to were we are now. But, more importantly, it's money. "Asylums" and therapy cost money. So America has its "bread and circus" in local and national spectator sports, that's where I would go for funding. A $1.00 (one dollar) tax on every spectator ticket sold or given away in America to go into a dedicated federal fund, not states, for mental "sanctuary's" and mental care. The mentally ill should be able to enjoy the SuperBowl too.

[@bryandraughn9830]

When I was 17 i had cut my hand when I punched a window after my girlfriend had broken up with me. After speaking with a counselor I suddenly realized that I wouldn't be going home that day but had been tricked into being admitted (baker acted) into a facility called "lake hospital" in palm Beach county fl. After I got a bit angry about the situation, a counselor sat me down and said "Relax man. As soon as the insurance runs out after 30 days, we will send you home, so just shut up and play the game for a month and we'll all get along just fine. If you don't cooperate, we will send you to a state institution, and you don't want to end up there." So I did. But they are very lucky that im NOT crazy, because upon my release, things could have easily turned out very badly. For them. They were shut down for insurance fraud the following year.

[@cantycanvas4150]

That’s pure horror movie stuff. I’d like to think I’m reasonably sane but if I were to go through that kind of abuse… yeah: Vengeance wouldn’t seem an impossible option.

[@laurisawitch0707]

My insurance will only cover 5 days. Me and other patients with severe treatment resistant illness tend to be in and out and when stigmatized that the care isnt enough because the assumption is we aren't 'trying hard enough'. And not that the care we received isn't working.

[@TheLastOfTheRealOnes94]

The whole mental health system here in Australia is broken id be in favour of re opening them with proper regulations and stuff of course

[@nanasloves]

Thank you so much for making this. I agree in so many ways. So many times families CANT take care or will the I’ll person allow the family to help. What we have right now is pathetic…. 😥