
The history of Geel, and the future of mental healthcare - benbreen
http://mikejay.net/the-colony-of-the-mad/
======
tcj_phx
from the link:

> In recent decades the ‘two-layered system’ – family care supported by a
> medical safety net – has been constantly adjusted to reflect developments in
> psychiatry. The most abrupt shift came in the 1970s, as the asylums emptied
> and mental healthcare was reconceived to become more flexible and extend
> further into the community. _Antipsychotic and antidepressant medications,_
> central to the new treatment model, were initially resisted by many families
> who felt they would turn boarders into medical outpatients, _but they soon
> proved their worth_ in helping to manage the worst of the depressions,
> crises and public incidents. (emphasis added)

Robert Whitaker is an investigative journalist who has looked into the claims
of proponents of psychotropic drugs. He has found the evidence supporting
their use to be lacking, and makes the case that these medications create and
maintain the conditions they supposedly treat:

[http://www.madinamerica.com/2016/07/the-case-against-
antipsy...](http://www.madinamerica.com/2016/07/the-case-against-
antipsychotics/)

My friend needed sobriety, but all she got were tranquillizers. She briefly
escaped from her tormentors, and her new treatment providers allowed her
sedation with anti-psychotics to lapse. She was given the SSRI she asked for,
which she thought had helped her before. But Serotonin is NOT the 'happy
chemical' \- the drug caused rapid heartbeat, resulting in tremendous anxiety.
She took her last benzodiazepine (class of addictive anxiety medications),
which caused her to 'fall apart'...

 _sigh_ ...

~~~
dsego
Yeah, I for one am glad my brother's main problem now is apathy and anhedonia.
Better to deal with that while he is on zyprexa, haldol, leponex, risperidone
or whatever, even for life, than having him live out bizarre fantasies,
running naked through the streets for 2 days straight, burning down all family
photo albums, accusing all family members of rape, having false memories,
draining my parents emotionally, psychologically and financially. God bless
modern psychiatry.

~~~
tcj_phx
The tragedy of the mental health status-quo is that Science now knows enough
to help these people... They knew enough 40 years ago. A recent study found
that psychotic patients don't produce cortisol upon awakening [1]. This
indicates problems with the mitochondria, and the flow of energy in the body.

[1] [https://www.jcu.edu.au/news/releases/2016/june/stress-
hormon...](https://www.jcu.edu.au/news/releases/2016/june/stress-hormone-link-
with-psychosis)

"These distinctive _alterations of hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis
function_ may have important implications for CAR as a marker for transition
risk." (emphasis added) [2]

[2]
[http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0149763416...](http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0149763416300549)

But Medicine is much more a haphazard form of "applied science" than a
rigorous application of what's been discovered by physiologists. Our medical
corps are disproportionately influenced by the industry they serve. So they
sedate their psychotic patients, rather than help them.

------
finnh
The "Invisibilia" podcast devoted an episode to discussing Geel:

[http://www.wnyc.org/story/invisibilia-problem-
solution/](http://www.wnyc.org/story/invisibilia-problem-solution/)

Some great interviews in there, IIRC.

------
orionblastar
Mental Hospitals in the USA, a lot of them closed down.

I used to have a good one near me that had a STEPS program that worked quite
well. It was shut down as part of the ACA act. I had to go to another hospital
farther away that treated all patients like criminals and had everything
locked down. STEPS would have a level 1 to 4 that patients could earn
privileges like wearing a belt or shaving themselves. This new system in the
hospital I went into they can lock down everything and you have to ask a nurse
or technician to get it for you or help you with it. There are so many
patients that they can't all get showers or shaving or new scrubs etc. In
Steps we were allowed to wear our own clothes and underwear and stuff. In the
new system you wear disposable scrubs, footie socks, and disposable
underpants. You can't wear a watch or have any clocks or anything in your
room. The only clock is on the wall near the staff desk and it is hard to see
by your room.

I am certain Geel has a STEPS program and other stuff that doesn't lock things
down like a prison. If a person is depressed, you don't throw them into a
prison like environment and hope they get better, you have to have a better
environment than that.

We need more mental hospitals that aren't run like prisons.

------
fraqed
The CBC radio program "The Sunday Edition" also aired a documentary about Geel
in 2014

[http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/psychiatric-community-care-
belg...](http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/psychiatric-community-care-belgian-town-
sets-gold-standard-1.2557698)

------
agumonkey
I've seen news talking about similar ideas (one in France) where a woman just
host a bunch of people with mental afflictions. They seem to live way better
than in hospitals. At first they almost look like any normal family. Just
thinking about it makes me happy. Social bond seems to be more important than
"medical therapy" in common hospitals.

