

Families in Geel, Belgium, take in those with mental illness - Mz
http://www.jsonline.com/news/milwaukee/chronic-crisis-in-a-centuries-old-tradition-families-in-geel-belgium-take-in-those-with-mental-illness-226602311.html

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Mz
I am posting this due to questions recently asked of me in a discussion about
suicide and health care.
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7228764](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7228764)

 _Something occurs to me when reading what you wrote here. I have heard folks
who have struggled with depression (and not just suicidal depression) talk a
lot about how important in person time was to recovering generally. I wonder
how much depression is a social as opposed to a purely mental /neurological
illness.

We humans need social contact and this has been known since at least the time
of Aristotle (and probably time immemorial).

Perhaps you could answer this question: when your adult sons come over and
care for you (this is a really great thing btw, and something we have lost as
a society), is that in itself theraputic? Or is it just a stop-gap?

If it is theraputic, then we are missing a key piece of the discussion in the
discourse of mental health._

So, I thought I would share this here, for all of Hacker News, in part because
I also talked with people who asked me, in essence, "If not now, then when?"
can certain things be discussed. I don't know that it is so much a question of
when as how. I submit this in attempt to provide some answers to those
questions.

