Mental hospitals and the public : the need for closer co-operation / by Lt.-Colonel J.R. Lord, C.B.E., M.D., F.R.C.P. Edin.

  • Lord, J. R. (John Robert), 1874-1931
Date:
1927
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Mental hospitals and the public : the need for closer co-operation / by Lt.-Colonel J.R. Lord, C.B.E., M.D., F.R.C.P. Edin. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Now there are many degrees of mental unhealthiness short of actual m breakdown. Feelings of being “ run down,” “ fed-up,” “ needing a change,’ but expressions of mental fatigue or anxiety and are as common as colds in the ] Cases of “ nervous exhaustion ” or “ nervous debility ” or “ nervous breakdo are less common but still everyday occurrences and have good chances of recc without institutional care if treated early. Such cases usually are fully cons> of their illness and naturally seek medical advice and treatment. Grave forms of mental breakdown commonly present a different picture an< not so readily understood. The onset may be sudden or slow. As a rule the pa declares himself to be quite well and, indeed, often looks the picture of health resents the suggestion of medical advice. His mental infirmity has to be ju outwardly by his conduct in regard to his surroundings and ordinary mode of 1 The important point to be remembered is that both the slighter and the se1 forms of mental unhealthiness—the case of “ nervous exhaustion ” and the of “ certifiable insanity ”—are fundamentally the same, and should be regard* such: also that superstitious views regarding insanity or mental disorders b< to the past, and that the adoption of a superior, scornful, derisive or face attitude to an insane person, or one who has been mentally unsound, is unkind and foolish, prevents the early treatment and recovery of such cases favours the accumulation of incurable insanity, which is a burden to the commu1 It is the universal experience in mental hospitals that the cases which m recover are those of short duration prior to admission, and that the longer the pa: who is ultimately admitted is kept at home the fewer the prospects of reco At the same time there is undoubtedly a “ stigma ” attached to an ex-mental hos| patient. By avoiding mental hospital treatment the case may become a hopeless one adopting it a life may be partially wrecked, because of this “ stigma ” which s ingrained in the minds of the people. The rising generation need not, howeve brought up in ignorance of fundamentals regarding insanity. The educat code of our national schools should decree a course on both mental and phj hygiene for senior pupils. This would do much to remove the “ stigma ” of “ him which handicaps all the mentally afflicted both in the early stages of their plaint and after recovery. Now as to the public and the mental hospitals. The public should be brc to understand the following facts : That mental hospitals are merely special hospitals for the treatment oi severer forms of mental disorder which cannot be adequately treated at home. t
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