Abuse In Psychiatric Institutions

Insane Asylums in the 1920-1930’s were disturbing places to live. Men and women were held in different wards, each ward had up to fifty patients (D’Antonio). Patients lived incredibly close to one another. Not one patient knew what

In this article, the incarceration of the mentally ill is encouraged because it is safer than keeping them in mental institutions. It claims that mental institutions are extremely dangerous by their very nature and the nurses there are trained to treat the mentally ill, not to keep them from hurting themselves or other people. In prisons however, the

In the book, Crazy, by Pete Earley, provides a detailed overview of the mental health system in the United States, as it presents a first hand narrative of Earley’s family journey through the system. The author’s major premise and arguments, in the book, is to highlight the history of mental health, navigation through the judicial system with mental illness, the bureaucracy and policies of hospitals, society views on human rights and client safety, and the impact on the individual, family, and community. The content suggests that human service workers and public health workers should extend their professional lens to advocate for change in the mental health system in the United States.

The Olmstead case began in 1995 with two women, Lois Curtis and Elaine Wilson who had developmental disabilities and a history of institutional treatment for psychiatric disorders. They were voluntarily admitted at different times, to a secure unit of Georgia Regional Hospital to stabilize and administer to their immediate needs, then continued treatment on an out-patient basis which was the normal course of action for this hospital. Through clinical assessments, the treating physicians determined that each woman was able to receive appropriate supports and services in a less restrictive, community based setting. The hospital administrators moved Lois and Elaine to a state-run institution, and refused them placement in a community setting, apparently due to a lack of state funding to make this transition possible. (https://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/98-536.ZS.html)

A lack of infrastructure and monitoring in correctional institutions leaves the public unaware of the aforementioned human rights violation of individuals diagnosed with mental health disorders (Mfoafo-M’Carthy and Huls 2014). In the case of Ashley smith, she was often confined for long periods of time without appropriate cause and were then subjected to conditions that included violence, substandard nutrition and cleanliness, torment, unconsented medical treatment, loss of dignity, and sedation as a control method. In addition, her diagnosis of personality disorder was used against her because she did not conform to the dominant cultural, moral, and religious standards of society.

Again, this highlights how patients viewed inhumanely are treated as such, without the personal concern or care a doctor ought to demonstrate when attending to their patients. This inhumane treatment leads to one patient’s eyes turning “all smoked up and gray and deserted inside like blown fuses” and forcing another to “[short] out [...] in an awful twist of smoke and smell of burned rubber” (16-17, 31-32). Viewing and treating the patients as inhuman clearly causes all sorts of issues, as mental illness cannot effectively be treated in a “Shock

The portrayal of people being sickly creatures has been used in Hollywood film for a very long time. This has been in the endeavor of putting the viewing public in the shoes of the patient and entertain them with over the top portrayals of disease. For patients that are women in particular this has been achieved by defining them along the lines of vague terms such as them being over emotional and unstable. Despite the advancement experienced by the society, women have not yet fully seen the goal of equality realize fruition. With the expansion of the psychiatric and psychological terminologies, there now additional ways via which mental illness can be ascribed as a weakness for men and women portrayed in Hollywood film. This is best

Entering the taboo world of mental illness, stigmatized as the crazy and psychotic by decades of

Over the past thirty years, there has been a 500% increase in the U.S incarceration rate. (The Sentencing project, 2014) Advances in medicine, such as the discovery of psychoactive drugs, led to the deinstitutionalization of mentally ill patients from psychiatric hospitals. With a long record of horrific abuse,

Between busy academic and practice schedules, college athletes are probably some of the most stressed out students. Despite student athletes working more hours than a full-time job and making millions of dollars for the university, they get nothing more than a full scholarship that only meets their most basic needs. The National College Players Association say that 86% of college football players live at or below the national poverty line. Could you imagine going to work for minimum wage while your employer makes hundreds of thousands of dollars off of your name? Because that is precisely what happens to college football players. Many of us grew up going to games and watching our favorite college teams play and never once did we stop to think

I served the Davis and Sacramento communities as a member of the largest non-profit service club organization in the world, Lions Club International, through participation and planning of over 30 service events and projects targeted towards increasing community health and education, reducing hunger and poverty, and improving the environment. I was one of the first members of the club and helped grow membership by 500%. I was elected Treasurer in my second year of membership. As treasurer I produced budgets, managed club finances and maintained detailed inventory reports. I also acted as committee head for 4 service events where I lead a group of members to plan and run the

Mental illness is a problem that occurs in all nations around the world. This is even more true for the populations in correctional facilities for both men and women. The overwhelming number of persons in correctional facilities with health issues is caused by: the rational that people with mental health disorders are a threat to society; narrow mindedness and low tolerance for people who are different from us; no resources to acquire the proper care needed. These mental health problems may have occurred prior to incarceration, and may nurtured further by the stressful environment of prisons, or they may have also been caused by being incarcerated in the first place in addition to other prior issues. Correctional facilities is not the place for the mentally ill, instead they should be treated for there illnesses. The purpose of this paper is to depict both the problem of inmates with mental health disorders in correctional facilities and the challenges faced by correctional staff. Secondly, denote possible interventions (treatment) for inmates with mental health issues. Next, support this information with studies about mental health in correctional facilities. Lastly, offer reasons it is important to combat the problem of mental illness in correctional facilities in order to better serve their well being needs.

Eight sane people were admitted into twelve different hospitals, where their diagnostic experiences would be part of the data of the first part of the article, while the rest will be devoted to a description of their experiences in psychiatric institutions. The patients were all very different from each other, three were women and five were men. Among them were three psychologists, one psychology graduate, a pediatrician, a housewife, a psychiatrist, and a painter. The ones that were in the mental health field were given a different occupation in order to avoid special attentions that might be given by the staff, as a matter of courtesy or caution. No one knew about the presence of the pseudopatients and the nature of the program was not known to any of the hospital staff. The settings were different as well. The hospitals were in five different states on the West and East coasts. Some were considered old and shabby and some were

The shutdown of state mental hospitals and lack of available financial and institutional resources force mentally ill people to the United States Judicial System for mental health. Every year thousands of people are arrested for various crimes and they are sent to jail. Sixteen percent of these people have some type of mental health problem (Public Broadcasting System , 2001). When we consider that the United States has the largest incarcerated population in the world at 2.2 million, this number is staggering (Anasseril E. Daniel, 2007). This is about 1% of the entire population of the United States. There are many reasons as to why the situation has taken such a bad turn and when the history of the treatment of mental illness is examined one can see how the situation developed into the inhumane disaster it is today.

“Have fun!” my mom called out from her car as she dropped me off for the first day of junior high. As I entered the school, I prayed that I wouldn’t get picked on or made fun of by people like I did in elementary. Not only did I get made fun of by the older grades, but also my own friends. I hoped that I could make real friends, friends who actually cared, friends who I can be myself around and not have them judge me. I looked around the school, wide-eyed. Something inside me said that I was safe and maybe, just maybe I would be able to make real friends.