Mental Illness

perhaps they closed them down in your part of canada whereever that is but you cannot speak for all of canada. Here in montreal, we still have the two major mental hospitals as always, and there are the little centers, the group home, halfway houses and support groups. It is still not perfect but it hasn't changed.

This is the first I'm hearing about this, when did it happen?

This is a very sad commentary on the state of affairs for those suffering from mental illness. I do believe that at least in the United States that this is far from happening for the time being. As far as I know working for the State of Nebraska each state handles it's own mental hospitals. Group homes and other such options are available to the less dangerous group of mentally ill patients but mental hospitals are there for those in need of them.

Hi. The plite of the mentally ill is of extreme concern to me. To put it more bluntly, it breaks my heart. Here in Ontario, we have one mental hospital that I know of, and it is in St. Thomas. I know that the mentally ill have rights. Of course I do! I am mentally ill myself, and woe betide anyone who tries to tamper with my abillity to make my pown decitions. lol. However, I believe that the mentally ill should be attended to without being deprived of such things as basic human dignity. If the mentally ill are going to find any surseace in this country, guess what, it isn't going to come from the government. If we are to recieve more adiquit care, that care is not going to come from a huge facillity where they pack people in like meat on a shelf. That care is going to come from our pears. Sure, our families can contribute as well. But many of the mentally ill have been disowned by their families. In other cases, their families love them and want to support them in whatever way they can. But they are at a loss for what to do because they are not properly educated about the person's illness. I have found that organizationws such as the Canadian Mental Helth association are very helpful to their clients. They provide a worker to work on a one on one basis with each client. This worker makes sure that the person is taking their medication on a regular basis, going to their doctor's appointments, and so on. In some cases, the worker will even take the client out shopping for groceries and other necessities. As well, we have the consumer survivor association. This organization is supposed to be run by and for the mentally ill. Believe me! It is much more efective to be supported by someone who has been their and understands what you are going through. As I said before, Pear support is definately the way to go. When we had our consumer survivor network in Chatham Kent, where I live, I was so impressed by the efectiveness of pear support, that I decided I wanted to take it one step further. Because most of the mentally ill are allionated from their families, or at least feel that they are, I decided to start a patchwork family of my own. Now, there are thirty-four of us, ranging in age from one year, to eighty-five years of age. My boyfriend and I fill the parental rolls, and the others are brothers and sisters to each other. I know it sounds wierd, but it seems to have achieved it's fare share of successes over the past four years. It seems idealistic, I realise that. But if more of us took responsibillity for each other in this way, the problem might not be as severe. No matter what we do, however, there are still going to be the few dingdongs that don't want to listen to anybody and couldn't follow a rule if you payed them a million dollars. I pray for them all the time. Some times, that's all you can do. God bless: Maggie.

They have done similar things in the United States. Many of the big campus-style mental hospitals have closed, and those that remain are smaller and geared toward people with acute problems. Many people needed the structure that the hospitals provided and are not well enough to live in group homes and cannot be relied upon to take medication or to keep appointments. Some of them end up homeless and some end up in the criminal justice system. I think it would be better if society were willing to spend the money on hospitals.