Out Of Sight - Part 6

This collection of videos takes in Storthes Hall, Stanley Royd, Meanwood Park Colony, New Church Hospital, Carstairs and former service user experiences..

Documentary about the introduction of the Community Care Act in April 1993 and the closure of many of Britain's older mental hospitals. This report reveals how thousands of people, who were locked away in such institutions for long periods of their lives, were never mentally ill in the first place. They were incarcerated for being deaf or pregnant or simply unwanted, but, once committed they were automatically deemed insane, and had no way of escaping. Includes the personal testimonies of a number of victims of this cruel and outdated system.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• out of sight
• meanwood park
• stanley royd
• ect
• storthes hall
• stokepark colony
• newchurch hospital
• carstairs
• stolen lives

[shinyravenii]

Respond to this video... Psychiatry is increasingly reduced to an exercise in managing risk though. And on closer inspection this is not always equivalent to "treating" as in doing something good and supportive for an individual. On the contrary. Risk averseness is often leading to increases in the suffering of the mentally ill. Open societies need to take risks. That is why we do not make use of protective custody and also release criminals after a period of time served.

[shinyravenii]

@lexichronicle2 I never said John was mad. I can confirm from first hand experience that the UK _is_ very forward looking in psychiatry and medicine as you say. I have worked in Germany before, which is not only socially divided in its general and mental health care, but where psychiatric institutions are also at least two decades behind ours in terms of organisational structure.

I agree I need to revise my thinking on who should be in prison and for how long. Current situation bad though.

[lexichronicle2]

In the case of John, his life has been effectively destroyed by what happened to him. There is absolutely no realistic way he can recover the financial loss he's sustained from all those decades. In terms of compensation, he should now have a free house, gas, electricity, water and some money left over. He had no chance, whatsoever, of accumulating that during his stay in the hospitals, despite being perfectly normal.

[lexichronicle2]

"The only psychiatric hospitals that are required should be to house persons who have been found not criminally responsible for a crime"

In theory yes. In practice, some people are unfortunately so mentally deficient they NEED to stay in a hospital to keep themselves safe. Suicide attempts are a route to being signed in. The law assumes that, if you want to kill yourself, something is seriously wrong and you require forced help. That is not necessarily a bad thing.

[lexichronicle2]

@shinyravenii John is not mentally abnormal. I have seen far 'crazier' people in normal society. He was conscripted into that system from the workhouses. He need physical help now, like an arm to lean on, because he's old, having spent all his time in that system. The UK is not all that backwards, we are one of the few countries who prescribe heroin to terminally ill patients to remove the pain. In terms of jail, anyone who has seriously harmed or poses a seriously threat should be there.

[shinyravenii]

Bearing in mind what I just wrote, it is of course blatantly obvious that most of the persons in this video are either physically disabled, have a mild learning disability or are not at all "unwell" in any way.

Overall, I think that the way a society treats its behaviourally (read: psychiatrically) "ill" provides a deep insight into the double standard nature of our ethics.

But one does not have to look very far to find other such examples in abundance.

[shinyravenii]

Nobody should be imprisoned except for murderers.

But there is of course also a case to me made for temporary detention of a so called mentally ill person. Psychiatric conditions are terrible in their own right and can make life very difficult. The real tragedy is that detained patients are neither afforded enough of a forum to make a case for their release and that doctors are far too overcautious when contemplating discharge, nor does society have any tolerance for weirdness, IMHO.

[sandhilldiva]

oilpatch totally disagree with your comment. if a person is insane which means they are sick and cant help it then they should be locked up but in a psychiatric hospital.

[terratagONE]

The mental health system in England is a backward thinking lot we've only just got advocacy which you in Canada have had20 years.

[oilpatchgirl]

First, compensation. Second retribution. Unfortunately not a problem not exclusive to England, we have our own sorry past here in Canada. Shame...shame!!!! The only psychiatric hospitals that are required should be to house persons who have been found not criminally responsible for a crime i.e. murder because they are legally insane, and they should be part of the prison system.