Invest as much as possible into childhood counseling. Guidance counselors are glorified social workers. Needs to more investment and attention.
It takes a village in certain instances.
I think men like Dr Kellog had the correct idea as providing a place to de-stress and recover your wits without the shrinks recruiting politicians, running the roost and applying their fad driven and usually (in America) progressive driven “cures”.
The problems really started when government got involved and suddenly you could off load your coot of an uncle or even business partner onto the State … it wasn’t that they meant bad but that they invariably underestimated how people would take advantage of the opportunities afforded them.
Maybe the practical results vs the intended results is yet another outgrowth of what I would call the problem with pilot programs. Pilot programs invariably benefit from being small, flexible in organization and possessing highly skilled and motivated people to run them … as well as being set up for the appearance of success because there’s a huge difference between doing a little and doing nothing … where the large State run programs that pilot programs spawn tend to look more like the DMV.
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“My wife is a LMFT”
Licensed, what are the other letters?
Marriage and Family Therapist.
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Why not?
Seems to me in closing institutions for the severely mentally ill, the baby has been thrown out with the bathwater. Maybe had there been such a place for Adam Lanza, there would have been no massacre at Sandy Hook.
Why not fund the inpatient institutions for the criminally insane and improve on care provided to avoid returning to the dark days of ice baths and frontal lobotomies?
Thank you.
long term institution are generally bad for majority of mental health cases.
there a very few people who require such level of care, they still exist.
what we need is more crisis bed in local hospitals for short term, and more in community based centres for out patient programs.
the best thing for people with mental health is strong local support from family, friends, etc.
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Spend more, spend less, the number of mentally ill will not change.
The FIRST thing “we” should do is to compile statistics on the “success rate” of current treatments.
I do a LOT of work with the homeless. Almost 100% are hardcore addicts and a very large percentage of them ALSO have a second mental illness.
My experience-based hypothesis is that current treatments for most mental illnesses is very very unlikely to result in any sort “cure.”
If I am correct then, a few targeted programs produce long term good but in general:
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spending more won’t result in any appreciable increase in the number of “cured” people
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AND-
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a major cut in spending woukd not result in an appreciable decrease in the number of “cured” people.
JMHO
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Drugs.
I disagree.
I agree. I’m not sure “cure” is the right word.
With what? More than one concept there.
This.
So you deny psychiatry went from mostly nonsense to mostly effective? Not sure we can have a rationale debate if that is the case.
the issue isn’t drugs.
the issue is the idea that drugs will cure mental health issues.
There are many that need long term care. California closing institutions where many thousands lived with the best care, exploded the homeless crisis.
It cost $100,000 per patient, per year on average.
It’s either that or they live under freeways and in alleys and sidewalks.
We could bring back institutions with a well publicized Bill of Patient’s Rights with strong language and severe penalties for mistreatment. Drugs should be used sparingly and only when beneficial and necessary.
Every emergency room should be required to have mental health crisis protocols that include the ability to move someone to an appropriate facility for short term emergencies such as emotional breakdowns during times of great stress. I have witnessed how badly the current system can fail such a person and it is tragic that we do so poorly.
Jails are about the worst place you can put some people who commit crimes just because they are a little whacked in the head but otherwise good people. They need help not iron bars and disinterested guards who are often abusive. The courts and police both need easy access to mental health professionals and facilities that focus on effective wellness programs and treatment.
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The “necessary” use of chemical straitjackets and physical restraints as well, are just the harsh reality with the serious behavior problems.
Certainly, in the more serious cases.
And that is a very large number.
