Today’s editorial in The Telegram discusses the need to change the way we view and use the Waterford hospital. (For those away, it’s a hospital that treats mentally ill patients and his done so for well over a hundred years.) It talks of the need to change the way the hospital is used and how those suffering from mental illnesses are treated differently than those with physical illness such as kidney or heart disease.
Here’s my response:
Mental illness is different from diabetes, kidney or heart disease in name only. Sick is as sick does. Eliminating the Waterford’s mandate of treating mental health patients only and making it a more versatile, multi-dimensional treatment facility, is a good start. But it’s only part of a more complex solution. And with the strain on resources – one that is bound to increase - we simply can’t make the hospital go away.
As the editorial states, patients suffering from mental illness should be treated in a similar professional manner as those with kidney or heart diseases. But people don’t whisper went they speak of friends or relatives with kidney or heart disease.
One thing the editorial does not address is why the stigma surrounding mental illness continues to exist today. Specifically, why going to the Waterford is viewed differently than going to the Health Sciences Centre. It’s stereotypical - and sad really - that one connotes a hospital room; another a rubber room.
Granted, strides have been made, and mental illness is not such a taboo subject anymore - due mainly through tireless efforts of organizations like the Canadian Mental Health Association, among countless others.
There’s no magic button to push that will change public opinion of the Waterford. And while we can’t make the stigma surrounding mental illness disappear overnight, changing the mandate of the hospital can only be a good thing – on so many levels.
Chris, I agree with you, we have a lot of work to do in removing the stigma of mental illness, but at the same time, we need facilities in which those with mental illness can be treated if that’s what’s required. Years ago, there was a move across this country to close “mental” hospitals and move the inhabitants into the community without providing the communities with the resources to be able to handle the influx of people in need of care. Fortunately, the Waterford was left open and although it has changed over the years, it still provides important care. Moving dialysis clinics into the Waterford is an important step in demystifying the place but we still require a place such as the Waterford and the essential care it delivers. The next challenge is to get the psychiatric medical residents back in there to provide more care.
ReplyDeleteI agree, the idea of mass deinstitutionalization, moving mentally ill patients to mainstream society, was ill advised. This was primarily due to social agencies inability to deal with the number of patients and the severity of their illnesses. And the fact that patients were moved appeared to be more of a cost saving measure than an attempt to actually help.
ReplyDeleteI am not advocating the closure of the Waterford or any other mental health facility – far from it. As you state, they provide an invaluable service and the need for such facilities and the help they provide continues to grow at an alarming rate.
However, I am concerned that such places reinforce stereotypical views of mental illness. Like it or not, the Waterford will always have the stigma of treating patients suffering from severe mental health diseases. It will always be “The Mental”. But moving other diagnostic and primary treatment facilities and clinics there is a good start to changing this view. Besides dialysis treatments, patients can also have blood work done - a good first step to demystifying the place.
However, much more work needs to be done. Otherwise, we’ll still look at the Waterford with a sense of indignation, fear or indifference when we drive by it.