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We need to bring back mental asylums in the US. amirite?
by Anonymous4 weeks ago
Depending on where you are, this isn't an unpopular opinion.
by Anonymous4 weeks ago
Where is this unpopular?
by Anonymous4 weeks ago
Republicans in the US defunded mental health asylums in the 1970s or 80s and just dumped all the patients on the streets. I think it was Reagan maybe that did it as President. Republicans still view them as bad and ignore the evidence that closing asylums increased homeless and put a ton of strain on the medical profession. A lot of the patients also ended up in prisons, prisons that are privately owned and whose owners donate to the Republican politicians…
by Naive-Vermicelli53514 weeks ago
It was not just the republicans. Disability Rights advocates fought for the serial closure of institutions for the mentally disabled and mentally ill across America (look up theWillowbrook scandal ) . Their mantra is "die with your rights on" which is going on now. Disability rights advocates don't tend to be republicans
by Beautiful-Deal-13214 weeks ago
No you didnt. You lied for Reagan is all you did.
by mayertnedra4 weeks ago
Privatization of public services. You can get inpatient mental health services in the US. You just have to have to be wealthy enough to afford it. Another failure of a public service being privatized
by thartmann4 weeks ago
Do you even know what this discussion is about?
by Anonymous4 weeks ago
I know Reagan did it as governor of California
by Pstokes4 weeks ago
Republicans want mental institutions back open. This has to be satire.
by Anonymous4 weeks ago
Republican want people in mental institutions. Republicans just don't want them funded.
by Will814 weeks ago
Republicans want trans people in mental institutions for being trans.
by Brown704 weeks ago
Considering maga considers them to have a mental condition requiring medical help (maybe), I can see that. Albeit with their idea of a mental institution. To be quite fair its possible that this is an extreme view among maga. The problem is that millions of people believe it is a general view it has based on their rhetoric and behavior. And if this is the case they are doing little to combat it.
by Jeichmann4 weeks ago
foh
by Anonymous4 weeks ago
No.
by Brown704 weeks ago
Not OP, but I don't think they should have heavy oversight. Seems like a situation where you want very little oversight.
by Anonymous4 weeks ago
Lack of oversight lead to insane levels of abuse, inhumane conditions, and experimentation back when they were popular. Oversight and robust funding are the only ways these could happen safely.
by Prestigious-Study5814 weeks ago
I think you're thinking of the wrong meaning of oversight. They're not saying there should be a ton of things missed, they're saying they should be closely watched to assume there's none of the rampant abuse that the asylums of the past allowed
by Anonymous4 weeks ago
Know anything about Willowbrook?
by Anonymous4 weeks ago
Oh, I guess I didn't understand you. You're saying it's better to have LESS oversight in institutions housing the most vulnerable.
by Anonymous4 weeks ago
Precisely. If you're already sticking your problems in the corner so you don't have to look at them, why be disingenuously sanctimonious over the concept of oversight?
by Anonymous4 weeks ago
Okay. I guess that's your take. I don't know if it's so much unpopular as it is ignorant and sadistic, but okay.
by Anonymous4 weeks ago
Oh I bet it's gonna be unpopular…That's why we don't have insane asylums anymore ;)
by Anonymous4 weeks ago
No that's obviously not, are you impaired in some way?
by Anonymous4 weeks ago
No, I'm just trying to show people what a real unpopular opinion is. Popular opinion on institutionalization for the criminally insane has already swung back in favor of pro.
by Anonymous4 weeks ago
Why?
by Traditional_Horse5714 weeks ago
Interacting with unreasonable and sometimes violent people is hard enough. The people on the frontlines deserve the ability to use discretion without fear of losing their jobs.
by Anonymous4 weeks ago
I'm a paramedic- aka someone often in the situations you describe. There are plenty of deescalation techniques that would pass the test of oversight- the people who aren't okay being watched are often the ones with the least scruples.
by JackfruitDefiant82794 weeks ago
Do you know the history of abuse in institutions like this? No oversight would lead to a lack of standards and an increase in abuse
by Traditional_Horse5714 weeks ago
First, do you oppose institutionalization for the criminally insane? In a vacuum, I do. However, I also prefer corporal punishment to imprisonment for sane criminals. And, not in a vacuum, I'd try that first and see how many crazy people we have left.
by Anonymous4 weeks ago
Yes and then no on corporal punishment
by Traditional_Horse5714 weeks ago
Well... being the US it will be stupid expensive.
by Anonymous4 weeks ago
Ripe with corruption
by Anonymous4 weeks ago
So you're saying it could work?
by Anonymous4 weeks ago
Just because they're not called asylums anymore doesn't mean they don't exist and fulfill the same basic needs. There are a lot of mental health institutions that are watched over and successful. They never went away, they just got renamed and rebranded. The reason most homeless people aren't in those places is simply because they can't afford it and the government doesn't care enough to make the stuff they need affordable
by Anonymous4 weeks ago
I think from a pure perspective of how many mental health facilities and capacity for them to hold people in beds in the 1960s and now, it's dramatically less capacity.
by Anonymous4 weeks ago
It's harder to have higher capacity when your humans rights standards are slightly higher
by Alexanemcdermot4 weeks ago
Have you ever worked or been in a mental health facility? I have. I'm not saying we should be going back necessarily to 1960s standard of care but there really isn't much difference between then and now in general care of a mental health patient. Drug them up, sedate them if they become violent or disruptive, put them in a padded room with a straight jacket, try to have them access to professionals to monitor them and adjust medication and psychologists to help deal with issues however they can. But the primary purpose is to keep them safe and away from general society until they can function. Sometimes that's never. But again we have dramatically less capacity to do so now than we did 60 years ago purely from a funding and infrastructure standpoint. Just being able to monitor these people and keep them safe and off the streets would be a dramatic improvement for many homeless now who have serious mental health conditions and nowhere to go.
by Anonymous4 weeks ago
because they discovered cramming a bunch of people into a building with not enough supplies or people to care for them resulted in spread of disease, worse outcomes for treatment oh and then theres the whole neglect and abuse issues
by Ancient_Cat26324 weeks ago
I don't think being hauled away in a straight jacket was ever something that required being financially sound.
by Anonymous4 weeks ago
It does unless you're gone enough to be a risk to society and get caught for a crime. OP didn't specify criminals and most addicts or people with mental issues bad enough to be homeless aren't dangerous enough to make the government pay for their rehabilitation.
by Anonymous4 weeks ago
While we do need better mental health care here, I'm not sure Asylums are the right way to go. When people end up in one, they seldom leave. It becomes a place for society to stuff inconvenient people. We do have inpatient facilities still, but they're mostly privately owned and often terrible places. Better mental health care means funding actual help for people instead of just medicating them. I'm in treatment for bipolar, and my counselor can only allot me 15 minutes once a month, much of which is just discussion of how my medication is doing. It's enough to keep me marginally okay, unless something bad happens, then it takes several months before I work through it on my own. If we had Asylums I likely would be in one, because I'm never quite "okay".
by Sorry_Assumption37354 weeks ago
this this this I get the feeling when OP says "drug addictions" and "mentally ill people" theyre envisioning violent, erratic, staring-into-space stereotyped mental illness, and not depression, bipolar, panic attacks, PTSD, or anything else we have actual therapy and meds for now.
by Ancient_Cat26324 weeks ago
I think the term you're looking for is "mental health inpatient" which absolutely exists for the populations you described. There's also halfway houses and sober housing for addicts. Group homes, assisted living, inpatient and outpatient services available for those with mental illness. The systems aren't perfect by any means but they certainly do a better job than a "mental asylum".
by Anonymous4 weeks ago
Oh trust me I am well aware. I'm just saying I don't think asylums are a good answer.
by Anonymous4 weeks ago
one flew over the cuckoo's nest
by Vonruedenterrel4 weeks ago
Electro-shock therapy is still used, just less non-consensually.
by Sufficient-Lock4 weeks ago
My friend has had excellent results for drug resistant depression responding to shock. It is way different that it used to be. Not the first thing that should be tried but still useful for some folks who have tried many other things and are still spiralling.
by Syblegoldner4 weeks ago
Conversion therapy. Zap the gay away!
by HorseOk36164 weeks ago
I meant real medicine. It can help treatment-resistent depression.
by Sufficient-Lock4 weeks ago
No thanks. I'd rather go with Psychedelic Therapy.
by Anonymous4 weeks ago
I disagree.
by Anonymous4 weeks ago
There are many mentally ill homeless people who would benefit from a place like this. Obviously with better, more humane care than in the past.
by Important-Pay4 weeks ago
That's just it they are poor. Poor people don't get inpatient care UNLESS they are a danger to society and get arrested first.
by Anonymous4 weeks ago
So zap the poverty away? 🤦
by Anonymous4 weeks ago
Because Hollywood is always accurate and factual
by Anonymous4 weeks ago
Dude, if we did this then billionaires would have to be slightly less rich.
by Anonymous4 weeks ago
Oh no, how will they survive?
by Anonymous4 weeks ago
I agree but the big problem is going to remain that supreme court ruling in the 1970s which caused most of the asylum to be closed in the first place.
by Anonymous4 weeks ago
100%. This should be common sense.
by Anonymous4 weeks ago
Sorry it's been privatized. This is what happens when public services become privatized. We suffer because only people with money get access to it
by thartmann4 weeks ago
We're looking at you Philadelphia!
by Lefflerjonathon4 weeks ago
nah, I had severe epilepsy and was forced to take medication that was also used to treat bipolar disorder even though I don't have any mental illness. I hated every second of it and doctors resorted to giving me blood tests every week to make sure it was in my system Turns out no medication would have worked and the only thing that would have fixed me was brain surgery. And even after the surgery they were trying to keep me on the medication. Been med free almost 3 years now and I've never been happier. I don't think people realize how trapped you feel being forced to take pills that effect your mood and you value those small moments where you kinda feel the effects ware off before your forced to take more pills It's honestly my biggest fear that when im in my 80-90s I'll be put back in that situation again where im forced to take pills I don't want to take. Those years made me realize no adult should be forced to take anything they don't want to take even if it does end up killing them.
by Professional_Seat4 weeks ago
"Mr. McMurchy, if you don't swallow your medication, we'll just have to find another way for you to take them. You won't like it."
by Claudinenolan4 weeks ago
I fully disagree with this, especially if you're talking about them in the sense as they were when they were prevalent. No we need an actual better system for treatment than that. Like others have said, the notion that we need to focus more help and resources on these people isn't unpopular. What I'm really curious about though is what you mean by remission? Like a large section of the population that I've worked with who would fall under the institutionalized umbrella aren't getting better. There is no better, they are simply as they are.
by macytowne4 weeks ago
It's great in theory but doesn't work. Mental asylums are like our penal system and senior retirement homes. The staff just aren't paid enough to deal with what society deems as unfit. Our prison system is not rehab at all, it has a high return rate and it's not surprising why. Retirement homes have staff that abuse the elderly. Even when mental asylum were open before, there are plenty of cases of staff abusing patients. You're basically saying that we need places to remove those we deem unfit and allow them to be abused and not be able to do anything about it
by Anonymous4 weeks ago
If you eliminate the penal system, our cities would be overwhelmed with criminals, just as they're currently overwhelmed with homeless people.
by Anonymous4 weeks ago
They still exist but they just aren't called that anymore, I'm going into mental health work and the problem with asylums was that many of the patients were abused and not cared for. Another big problem is a lot of health care workers are scared to work with this population as they are higher risk and pretty much all of healthcare is struggling due to being understaffed. Lastly this would cost a lot and people don't like to spend their money.
by Anonymous4 weeks ago
Agree totally. I live near a city in the PNW (not Portland) that is just a gd mess. Hubby did a job down there (contractor) and he said it was like working in an outdoor insane asylum with people screaming and tearing at their hair. Horrible.
by Anonymous4 weeks ago
Heavy, heavy oversight is key. Mental asylums have a dark history It's always sunny has a good bit about this though. Where Dennis wants asylum open but doesn't want to pay more taxes to fund them. Very accurate to how many people would feel in real life
by Traditional_Horse5714 weeks ago
Canada would like to sign up for this too please and thank you
by Langkiel4 weeks ago
yeah we're seeing how well thats working out for disabled/mentally ill people.... "just use MAID!"
by Ancient_Cat26324 weeks ago
Run loose? Are they dogs?
by Anonymous4 weeks ago
There is no profit in rehabilitation
by Anonymous4 weeks ago
what you are advocating for is socialism
by Jayceeffertz4 weeks ago
They do exist…. I've been admitted to one
by Anonymous4 weeks ago
We call these inpatient healthcare facilities now.
by Anonymous4 weeks ago
Or, and this is a wild, crazy, totally nutty idea that may make me the devil in some people's eyes... Are ya ready? We fix the housing issues. Oh look at that. Suddenly people have stability, which is like, the #1 killer of drug use, and allows them a footing to seek proper treatment. You may now burn me alive for my witchcraft. I'll provide the wood, as my username demands.
by ejakubowski4 weeks ago
Wow, so easy. How exactly do we that? Lots of first world countries are struggling with it. Almost as if it's extremely difficult or something.
by InsuranceGood4 weeks ago
theres lots of economic theories on how too do it, its just that it wont happen because the people who benefit from keeping it the same are the ones who can make the changes
by Ancient_Cat26324 weeks ago
Shouldn't we assess the needs of patients, and deficiencies in the existing system before declaring which solution to implement?
by Anonymous4 weeks ago
Maybe start with some basic mental health services.
by Anonymous4 weeks ago
On Oct. 31, 1963, President John F. Kennedy signed a bill meant to free many thousands of Americans with mental illnesses from life in institutions.
by madelynbradtke4 weeks ago
Google is like, right there man. We don't have to lie. Support whichever party you want but lying does nothing but make an ass out of yourself when we have unlimited access to information.
by Anonymous4 weeks ago
Ronald Reagan had people committed over weed.
by Anonymous4 weeks ago
Lmk when a Dem actually pushes through Medicare for all…which is the only solution to this problem
by Anonymous4 weeks ago
Too easy to abuse by authorities.
by Jean714 weeks ago
This is what people want to do with money that would be defunded from the police
by ToeBusiness974 weeks ago
Lol no sane person is going to want to work at this facilities and get attacked by one of these crazy people
by Anonymous4 weeks ago
Yes
by Anonymous4 weeks ago
Try universal healthcare, a strong welfare safety net and high minimum wage. You'd be surprised how much better people feel mentally when they're supported. Of course plenty of people need extra help, but you can reduce demand on that help with basic support.
by Anonymous4 weeks ago
We have the House of Representatives.
by Anonymous4 weeks ago
We need universal Healthcare. Our country looks the way it does because we don't invest in it.
by Anonymous4 weeks ago
Yeah we gotta bring em back but safer
by Upbeat-Share11574 weeks ago
Wouldnt work here. Or, rather it wouldnt be supported by anyone. And by anyone, i mean policy makers. And even if it was, take a look at why we did away with them in the past. We need a cultural shift more than anything.
by Academic-Tea50244 weeks ago
They'd fill up faster than prisons.
by Proof-Republic-88744 weeks ago
I feel like we could just improve current mental health services instead of replacing them with the same thing but with more historical ethical baggage. Idk how you think the mentally ill and addicted are running lose, most either wind up getting jailed/imprisoned especially where mental health is already largely ignored.
by Anonymous4 weeks ago
They exist bro. I've been there. Many times
by Anonymous4 weeks ago
Is that really that unpopular? Here's a hot take. Every homeless person on the street that has an obvious mental illness or drug addiction should be forcibly thrown into one of those places until they are able to be rehabbed if that's not possible for good
by Anonymous4 weeks ago
They still have facilities for the mentally incapable. Asylums were known for their abuse. The facilities now are heavily over sighted.
by summer884 weeks ago
We already have jail/prison with the largest incarcerated population in the current world…
by Anonymous4 weeks ago
Psych wards and rehab centers are still a thing in America. (At least in some places.) The problems start with accessibility. Without insurance checking yourself in a psych ward can cost around $1,000/day. A 30 day program for rehab can cost around $20,000 without insurance. It's cheaper just to get the hard drugs (I assume) or to be untreated for any mental disorder that you have without insurance, and insurance is kind of a luxury in America unfortunately.
by Anonymous4 weeks ago
We had a system that was better than nothing. Blame conservative icon Ronald Reagan
by Madilyn414 weeks ago
I agree and we need to hang drug dealers. no more coddling start throttling!
by Financial_Cod_73564 weeks ago
We have them here. I know a guy in his twenties who just got out of the mental hospital. He had a schizophrenic episode and murdered his landlord. And the Appalachian Trail killer I think is still in Butner. Mental hospitals still exist in America.
by Jarretsimonis4 weeks ago
Poor Farms too. Put those tweekers to productive work growing vegetables and maintaining hiking trails.
by sfeeney4 weeks ago
We have those today, they are called prisons…..
by Nitzschefurman4 weeks ago
This is definitely not an unpopular opinion Unless you're a far-right Republican.
by irempel4 weeks ago
Also special schools for challenged kids
by Anonymous4 weeks ago
So, you are saying that we should involuntarily commit people who have not committed any crimes and hold them for an indefinite period for their own good and the good of society. Do you also believe that we should shorten prison sentences of people who actually did commit crimes, or do away with bail to allow people suspected of serious crimes to roam the streets harming members of society?
by Jbartell4 weeks ago
No I think OP means homeless people like the one who was eating a severed leg he found in a crash scene involving a train
by Beautiful-Deal-13214 weeks ago
What if they have committed crimes but done their time, and likely to commit again due to the mental illness?
by daniellejacobso4 weeks ago
There are civil rights issues but let's not pretend that a profoundly ill schizophrenic homeless man who is smearing his feces on the walls of the train station isn't living his best life on the streets.
by Anonymous4 weeks ago
I did that for my mom after a suicide attempt. It wasn't fun at all. Thankfully, she wanted help, and she's better now. I also help my cousins and aunt do something similar to an uncle who was on meth and making veiled threats to the whole town. Unfortunately, he didn't think he needed it, then proceded to stalk and harass me before hitting me on the head with a shovel after he was let out. That was even less fun
by Anonymous4 weeks ago
This is scary because it's exactly how unvaccinated people like myself and many others were being described during Covid. In this day in age when everyone who disagrees with "muh factcheck.org facts and science and stuff" is considered mentally unstable by people who still think they were right about the vaccines, these types of policies can easily be applied nefariously.
by Anonymous4 weeks ago
No. No we don't. We already have helpful environments dedicated to helping with those needs. Mental health facilities need more funding. We don't need to split funding to places designed, by nature, to cause more harm
by Anonymous4 weeks ago
And insurance should cover more with regards to mental health. Just like regular doctors, many more people would be able to access support.
by Anonymous4 weeks ago
raise my taxes!?
by Anonymous4 weeks ago
Why don't just outsource to cheaper countries? Make a deal and send those Americans to asylums abroad.
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