Beyond the walls: the mentally ill in Ireland outside the institutions in 1901

2015 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 275-282 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. D. Kelly ◽  
N. Sherrard
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Mentally Ill ◽  
Community Care ◽  
Psychiatric Hospitals ◽  
Roman Catholic ◽  
Point Prevalence ◽  
Systematic Analysis ◽  
Never Married ◽  
And Gender

ObjectivesIreland’s rates of psychiatric institutionalisation increased rapidly throughout the 1800s and early 1900s. This paper provides a systematic analysis of individuals with mental illness who were not resident in psychiatric hospitals, workhouses or other institutions in 1901.MethodsWe examined the online census records of all individuals described as ‘lunatics’ on the island of Ireland, not resident in psychiatric hospitals, workhouses or other institutions on census night, 1901.ResultsThere were 482 individuals described as ‘lunatics’ and not resident in psychiatric hospitals, workhouses or other institutions on 31 March 1901, yielding a point prevalence of 10.6 per 100 000 population. The lowest prevalence (7.8) was in Leinster (possibly owing to provision of workhouses and asylums); the highest prevalence was in Connaught (17.5) (p=0.013). A majority of them (60.4%) were women. Mean age was 45.7 years. In addition, a majority were single (never married) (63.7%); 33.3% of women were married, compared with 14.1% of men (p<0.001). The most common relationship to the head of the household was child (32.8%), although some were boarders or lodgers. The majority were Roman Catholic (82.0%) and could ‘read and write’ (64.5%). Among those for whom ability to speak Irish was recorded, 74.4% spoke both Irish and English.ConclusionThere were significant geographical and gender differences within the population recorded in the 1901 census as mentally ill and outside institutions. This group merits further study, especially with regard to their distribution in relation to asylum locations, and the extent to which they were cared for in communities, possibly prefiguring later models of community care.

scholarly journals After the madhouses: the emotional politics of psychiatry and community care in the UK tabloid press 1980–1995

2021 ◽  
pp. medhum-2020-012117
Author(s):  
Leah Sidi
Keyword(s):  
Mental Illness ◽  
Mentally Ill ◽  
Community Care ◽  
Term Care ◽  
Hospital Patients ◽  
Emotional Politics ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Gendered Stereotypes ◽  
Tabloid Press

The deinstitutionalisation of mental hospital patients made its way into UK statutory law in 1990 in the form of the NHS and the Community Care Act. The Act ushered in the final stage of asylum closures moving the responsibility for the long-term care of mentally ill individuals out of the NHS and into the hands of local authorities. This article examines the reaction to the passing of the Act in two major tabloid presses, The Sun and The Daily Mirror, in order to reveal how community care changed the emotional terrain of tabloid storytelling on mental health. Reviewing an archive of 15 years of tabloid reporting on mental illness, I argue that the generation of ‘objects of feeling’ in the tabloid media is dependent on the availability of recognisable and stable symbols. Tabloid reporting of mental illness before 1990 reveals the dominance of the image of the asylum in popular understandings of mental illness. Here the asylum is used to generate objects of hatred and disgust for the reader, even as it performs a straightforward othering and distancing function. In these articles, the image of the asylum and its implicit separation of different types of madness into categories also do normative gender work as mental illness is represented along predictable gendered stereotypes. By performing the abolition of asylums, the 1990 Act appears to have triggered a dislodging of these narrative norms in the tabloid press. After 1990, ‘asylum stories’ are replaced with ‘community care stories’ which contain more contradictory and confusing clusters of feeling. These stories rest less heavily on gendered binaries while also demonstrating a near-frantic desire on the part of the mass media for a return of institutional containment. Here, clusters of feeling becoming briefly ‘unstuck’ from their previous organisations, creating a moment of affective flux.

scholarly journals A psychiatric clinic for the single homeless in a primary care setting in Inner London

1990 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 270-271 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. L. A. Joseph ◽  
J. A. Bridgewater ◽  
S. S. Ramsden ◽  
D. J. El Kabir
Keyword(s):  
Mental Illness ◽  
Mentally Ill ◽  
Care Setting ◽  
Direct Evidence ◽  
Primary Care Setting ◽  
Psychiatric Morbidity ◽  
Psychiatric Hospitals ◽  
Psychiatric Clinic ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Reception Centre

It is well recognised that there is an increased psychiatric morbidity, in particular psychosis, personality disorder and substance abuse, among the single homeless (Lodge Patch et al, 1971). The reasons for this are complex. There is evidence that these people are mentally ill before becoming homeless and that their illness may be a cause of their homelessness. In a study of newly presenting patients at the DHSS Reception Centre in Camberwell, London, Tidmarsh & Wood found that 87% of those with mental illness had been staying recently with their families just before their first hospital admission, suggesting that mental illness may have led to homelessness in these patients (Tidmarsh & Wood, 1972). Although direct evidence is scant in the UK, it is felt that the closure of long-stay psychiatric hospitals could lead to some of their in-patients becoming homeless.

scholarly journals ‘You don't bring me flowers any more’: an investigation into the experience of stigma by psychiatric in-patients

2004 ◽  
Vol 28 (10) ◽  
pp. 371-374 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joanna S. Bromley ◽  
Sara J. Cunningham
Keyword(s):  
Mental Illness ◽  
Mentally Ill ◽  
Psychiatric Patients ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Patient Treatment ◽  
Medical Patients ◽  
Stigma Of Mental Illness ◽  
The Status ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Relapse Rates

Aims and MethodA structured interview-based questionnaire was used to measure the number of cards and gifts received by 40 people undergoing psychiatric in-patient treatment, compared with an age- and gender-matched group of medical in-patients. The study also assessed the amount of disclosure of admission and diagnosis to family and friends in the two groups.ResultsThe psychiatric patients received about half as many cards as the medical patients (60 v. 112). Gifts to the psychiatric patients were often practical in nature and seldom included luxury items such as flowers. Disclosure of admission for mental illness (compared with the physical illness group) was significantly lower, both to family members (139 v. 193, P=0.041) and friends (74 v. 332, P=0.0001).Clinical ImplicationsThe stigma of mental illness is reflected in the secrecy surrounding disclosure of hospital admission and the lack of tokens of support. Clinicians should be aware of the resulting sense of isolation and shame, and the consequences for mental health in view of reduced social networks increasing the risk of future relapse rates. Reduced contact with mentally ill patients has implications for society as a whole in maintaining the status quo of stigma.

scholarly journals Letter from Australia: mental healthcare in Victoria

2011 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-4 ◽  
Author(s):  
David J. Castle
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Substance Use ◽  
Intellectual Disability ◽  
Mentally Ill ◽  
Mental Healthcare ◽  
Psychiatric Hospitals ◽  
Mental Illnesses ◽  
Government Agencies ◽  
The Past

SummaryMental health services in the state of Victoria, Australia, have undergone enormous change over the past 15 years, with the closure of all stand-alone psychiatric hospitals and a shift of resources and services into the community. Although successful overall, various areas cause concern, including pressure on acute beds, a paucity of alternative residential options, and suboptimal integration of government and non-government agencies concerned with the care of people with mental illnesses. Certain groups, notably those with complex symptom sets such as substance use and mental illness, intellectual disability and forensic problems, remain poorly catered for by the system. Finally, community stigma and lack of work inclusion for mentally ill individuals are ongoing challenges.

scholarly journals Who's in the lions' den?

1996 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 68-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
Geoffrey Wolff ◽  
Soumitra Pathare ◽  
Tom Craig ◽  
Julian Left
Keyword(s):  
Mentally Ill ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Community Care ◽  
Psychiatric Treatment ◽  
Psychiatric Hospitals ◽  
Care Policy ◽  
Suburban Communities ◽  
Cost Cutting ◽  
Local Residents

Most long-stay patients discharged from psychiatric hospitals under community care policy are being accommodated in suburban communities. The communities' attitudes have a major bearing on the success of this policy. A census of perceptions of psychiatric services was conducted in two areas prior to the opening of long-stay supported houses for the mentally ill. Many respondents (37%) had a negative perception of psychiatric treatment in hospital. Most (82%) had heard of community care policy but few (29%) knew about the imminent opening of supported houses for the long-term mentally HI in their own street. Most respondents (66%) were against the closure of psychiatric hospitals and many saw It as a cost cutting exorcise. The majority agreed with the idea of long-stay patients being discharged into smaller units in the community although a substantial minority (20%) thought it would have a bad effect on the local community. An overwhelming majority of respondents (91%) thought it was important for local residents to be given information about new mental health facilities in their neighbourhood. Respondents were worried that patients would not get adequate support and that they might be dangerous. If community care policy is to succeed, attention needs to be paid to the community's opinions and desire for information about local services.

Community Care: An Analysis of Assumptions

1975 ◽  
Vol 127 (3) ◽  
pp. 276-285 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Hawks
Keyword(s):  
Mental Illness ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Mentally Ill ◽  
Community Care ◽  
Care And Treatment

SummaryThe implementation of a policy of ‘community care’ is seen to involve a number of assumptions, some of which are rarely examined. These can be roughly categorized as involving the nature of mental illness, the nature of community, the course and treatment of mental illness, the proper scope of psychiatry, the burden on the community and the efficacy of social work. Data bearing on these assumptions are reviewed, and the conclusion is offered that they are far from being uncontentious.It is suggested that the movement toward community care has many of the attributes of a moral enterprise which, unless substantiated by benefits to the patient or his family, may be the latest diversion of the psychiatric conscience from the care and treatment of the chronic mentally ill.

Stigma and attitudes towards mental illness: Gender differences in a sample of Italian medical students

2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. S739-S739 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Pascucci ◽  
M. La Montagna ◽  
D. Di Sabatino ◽  
E. Stella ◽  
R. Nicastro ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Medical Students ◽  
Mentally Ill ◽  
Psychiatric Patients ◽  
Female Gender ◽  
Reference Points ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Students Attitudes

Introductionstigma in mental illness is characterized by discrimination towards people affected by mental disorder. Consequence of the paradigm “stigma-injury-discrimination” is the social exclusion of these patients and the denial of their rights. Medical students, those who should be important reference points for psychiatric patients, are instead one of the categories that contribute to their stigmatization.ObjectivesTo study the attitudes of medical students towards psychiatric patients.AimsThe present study analyzes gender differences in a sample of Italian medical students towards mental illness.MethodsA total of 339 Italian medical students completed a cross-sectional survey, in Rome and Foggia (Italy). We used the Italian version of Community Attitude towards the Mentally Ill test (CAMI) to analyze the students’ attitudes.ResultsThere is a substantial difference among the attitudes towards mental disorders in female and male students. Female students have obtained less stigmatizing results in 9 of the CAMI test items (P < 0.05), in Benevolence (P = 0.001) and Social Restrictiveness subscales (P = 0.043) and in the total score (P = 0.013).ConclusionsThese results are in line with those achieved in scientific literature, confirming that women tend to show more humanitarian attitude towards the mentally ill. Even in the original article of the validation of the CAMI test, the authors found better attitudes in women in all subscales, with the exception of Social Restrictiveness subscale (that in our analysis also correlates with the female gender).Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

scholarly journals Rural-urban and gender differences in the association between community care services and elderly individuals’ mental health: a case from Shaanxi Province, China

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Liu Yang ◽  
Lijian Wang ◽  
Xiuliang Dai
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Gender Differences ◽  
Community Care ◽  
Shaanxi Province ◽  
Elderly Individuals ◽  
Daily Care ◽  
Care Services ◽  
Health Level ◽  
Recreational Services ◽  
And Gender

Abstract Background While community care services have been developing rapidly as a new way to meet the growing demands of elderly individuals in China, their health benefits are virtually unknown. Thus, the aim of this study was to examine the Chinese elderly individuals’ utilisation of community care services and its association with the mental health with comparing rural-urban and gender differences. Methods For this 2019 cross-sectional study, 687 elderly people from 7 counties (districts) of China’s Shaanxi province were enrolled. Respondents’ mental health level was assessed using a self-reported mental health measure. Four categories of community care services utilisation were examined: daily care services, medical care services, social and recreational services and spiritual comfort services. The binary logistic regression model was used in examining the association between community care services utilisation and mental health. Results Our results showed that there was a noted difference in mental health level between the male and female groups. Utilisation of medical care services and social and recreational services was significantly higher in the rural group than that in the urban group. Regression analysis showed that utilisation of daily care services (β = 0.809, p = 0.008) and social and recreational service (β = 0.526, p = 0.035) was significantly and positively associated with elderly individuals’ mental health level. Specifically, daily care services utilisation predicted a better mental health of the rural elderly (β = 1.051, p = 0.036) and the male elderly (β = 1.133, p = 0.053), while social and recreational services utilisation predicted a better mental health of the urban elderly (β = 0.927, p = 0.008) and the female elderly (β = 0.864, p = 0.007). Conclusions Our findings indicated varied levels of community care services utilisation and mental health are common among the elderly people in China. Community care services utilisation has a positive, albeit selective, association with elderly individuals’ mental health. Further policies should strengthen the equitable development of high-quality community care services in urban and rural areas to improve the mental health of elderly individuals, and focus more on gender differences in terms of community care services needs.

The Symptoms of Trauma Scale (SOTS): Psychometric evaluation and gender differences with adults diagnosed with serious mental illness

2016 ◽  
pp. 1-16 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julian D. Ford ◽  
Andres R. Schneeberger ◽  
Irina Komarovskaya ◽  
Kristina Muenzenmaier ◽  
Dorothy Castille ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Gender Differences ◽  
Mental Illness ◽  
Serious Mental Illness ◽  
Psychometric Evaluation ◽  
And Gender

scholarly journals The quantification of the psychiatric revolution: a quasi-natural experiment of the suicide impact of the Basaglia Law

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 492-496
Author(s):  
Caterina Ronchetti ◽  
Veronica Toffolutti ◽  
Martin McKee ◽  
David Stuckler
Keyword(s):  
Mental Illness ◽  
Time Trends ◽  
Fixed Effects ◽  
Community Care ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Italian Regions ◽  
Increased Risk ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Mental Health Programs ◽  
Hospital Closure

Abstract Background The Italian 180/1978 reform abolishing asylums is one of the most contested mental health programs ever implemented. It aimed to shift care of mental illness into the community improving outcomes and reducing expenditure. It was a model for successive deinstitutionalization initiatives across Europe and North America. However, there were longstanding concerns that, without expansion of community care, it may have deprived patients with mental illness access to support, placing them at increased risk of suicide. Methods Regression discontinuity models were used to quantify the association between the number of suicides and the introduction of the Basaglia Law, disaggregated by age-group and gender, covering 20 Italian regions during the period 1975–84. Models were adjusted for potential socio-demographic confounding factors, region-specific fixed effects and pre-existing time-trends. Results Italian regions implemented the Basaglia Law to varying degrees over time. We observed that, after adjusting for pre-existing time trends, the implementation was associated with a consistent increase in the number of suicides for all the age-groups [incidence rate ratio, age 15–44: 1.29, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.18–1.41; age 45–74: 1.45, 95% CI 1.37–1.54] and for both genders (males: 1.47, 95% CI 1.41–1.53; females: 1.36, 95% CI 1.25–1.47). Hospital closure appeared to be an important mediating mechanism. Conclusions The Basaglia Law was associated with a significant increase in the number of suicides, with evidence of an association with closures of facilities, leaving those with mental illness with nowhere to go, as the envisioned community care structures failed to be developed as originally planned.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document