Following the Lunacy Act of 1845, all asylums in Great Britain were required by law to keep a record book of all admissions. This provision in law has since enabled researchers to focus on the main causes for admissions to our asylums in the second half of the nineteenth century.
The main three diagnoses on admission were mania, dementia and melancholia. The latter is now more formally recognised as depression. Mania is still used to describe the same condition as indeed is dementia. When it finally closed it's doors in 1995, the former North Wales Hospital housed a great many patients with known dementia. There were staff in those days who had become expert at dealing with dementia. Granted, not all practices would stand up to scrutiny today but the principle of treating the same condition in one location by dedicated carers was sound.
Dementia is probably one of the diagnoses which we all fear greatly on those occasions when we dare to consider what awaits us in the event of our reaching old age. The loss of memory and awareness is a frightening proposition. Imagine then how frightening that must be for the poor individual with the condition? The provision for such patients was arguably more advanced a century ago than it is today. Only today another news item warned of the growing deficit in dementia care in Wales. This can hardly come as a surprise for the decision makers who have manufactured the current mess. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-27046358
If the way we provide for dementia has taken several steps back since the Victorian era, it is instructive to consider how we address the growing problem of adolescents attempting suicide. On a placement before Christmas, I found myself in a rural part of mid Wales. On more than one occasion, a young person was incarcerated in the local police cell having just attempted to take their own life. Not because the local police cell was considered conducive to any form of moral treatment but because that is all that was available in that part of the world. Quite what the effect of a night in the police cells is on the long term mental health of a young person who has just tried to take their own life is beyond me. It is nothing short of a national disgrace that we continue to treat mental health with such utter contempt when there but for the grace of God go you and I. This and previous governments ought to hang their heads in shame.
Mental health is as normal as breathing and affects us all at different times and in so many different ways. Given the ubiquitous presence of mental health issues in all societies, it is hard to understand a political system which refuses to recognise that simple fact. What is really crazy is the political hierarchy which chooses to ignore one of the easiest problems which they can recognise and address. In the event of them doing so, the rewards will exceed their wildest dreams but I'm not holding my breath just yet.
The main three diagnoses on admission were mania, dementia and melancholia. The latter is now more formally recognised as depression. Mania is still used to describe the same condition as indeed is dementia. When it finally closed it's doors in 1995, the former North Wales Hospital housed a great many patients with known dementia. There were staff in those days who had become expert at dealing with dementia. Granted, not all practices would stand up to scrutiny today but the principle of treating the same condition in one location by dedicated carers was sound.
Dementia is probably one of the diagnoses which we all fear greatly on those occasions when we dare to consider what awaits us in the event of our reaching old age. The loss of memory and awareness is a frightening proposition. Imagine then how frightening that must be for the poor individual with the condition? The provision for such patients was arguably more advanced a century ago than it is today. Only today another news item warned of the growing deficit in dementia care in Wales. This can hardly come as a surprise for the decision makers who have manufactured the current mess. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-27046358
If the way we provide for dementia has taken several steps back since the Victorian era, it is instructive to consider how we address the growing problem of adolescents attempting suicide. On a placement before Christmas, I found myself in a rural part of mid Wales. On more than one occasion, a young person was incarcerated in the local police cell having just attempted to take their own life. Not because the local police cell was considered conducive to any form of moral treatment but because that is all that was available in that part of the world. Quite what the effect of a night in the police cells is on the long term mental health of a young person who has just tried to take their own life is beyond me. It is nothing short of a national disgrace that we continue to treat mental health with such utter contempt when there but for the grace of God go you and I. This and previous governments ought to hang their heads in shame.
Mental health is as normal as breathing and affects us all at different times and in so many different ways. Given the ubiquitous presence of mental health issues in all societies, it is hard to understand a political system which refuses to recognise that simple fact. What is really crazy is the political hierarchy which chooses to ignore one of the easiest problems which they can recognise and address. In the event of them doing so, the rewards will exceed their wildest dreams but I'm not holding my breath just yet.
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