Co-authored by Linda Beeber, Ph.D., RN, CS, FAAN, professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Madeline A. Naegle, Ph.D., PMHCNS-BC, FAAN, professor at New York University
Does the U.S. need more "asylums" to treat or house persons with severe mental illness? A recent article in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) authored by three ethicists calls for improved psychiatric care by returning to psychiatric "asylums" of the past ("asylums" that are "safe, modern, and humane"). Persons with mental illness are now straining the capacity of our jails and prisons, hospital emergency departments, nursing homes and other long-term care facilities.
Others seem to agree. Psychiatrist Christine Montrose wrote an op-ed in the New York Times titled "The Modern Asylum," going beyond by calling for more "asylums" to house and treat persons not only with severe mental illness, but also those with chronic neurological/developmental disorders such as disorders on the autism spectrum. Recent letters to the editor in the NYT responding to "The Modern Asylum" had mixed reactions to the idea of returning to "asylums," yet they all agree that we need to do more for persons with severe mental illness and those with neurological/developmental disorders.
Asylums were initially conceived as refuges where individuals with mental illnesses could be cured if they had healthful, low-stress, protected surroundings. Over time, the key elements of protection and healthful living were lost, and asylums became places of abuse, infringement on human rights, stigma and confinement in lieu of treatment. The authors of this op-ed would like to emphasize that while we support the need for new models of care, we emphasize that "new" must be predicated on a completely different paradigm that doesn't isolate people with severe mental illness from society, and instead embodies recovery in vibrant, nurturing communities within the larger society.
[For more go to http://www.huffingtonpost.com/...lums-_b_6780058.html]
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