BRITISH MENTAL INSTITUTIONS

Press, Volume C, Issue 29602, 26 August 1961, Page 5

BRITISH MENTAL INSTITUTIONS

Few Compulsory Patients Nearly all who now entered British mental hospitals did so voluntarily, and only about i per cent, entered under compulsion, said Professor T. Ferguson Rodger, professor of psychological medicine at Glasgow University, last evening. Professor Rodger is in Christchurch to attend the mental health conference which will open tomorrow. Professor Rodger said that people were getting a better understanding of mental health. The seminar marked a stage in the evolution of thinking about mental health, he said. It was important that other professions apart from the medical profession would be involved.

In Britain the prejudice about employing persons recovered from mental illnesses was being overcome. Aftercare of patients and the training of staff to care for patients were being recognised as being of great importance. Professor Rodger said that in Britain it Was being found that fewer cases of severe mental illness were being treated than formerly; cases were receiving treatment before they became chronic. It was found that more money was being spent a day on patients, but as a result the length of illnesses was shorter and the total expenditure was dropping. The length of illnesses was being reduced by better methods i of treatment and more intensive treatment. Emphasis was also being placed more on the prevention of mental illness.