Stricken Minds That Languish behind Asylam Walls

NZ Truth, Issue 1228, 13 June 1929, Page 1

Stricken Minds That Languish behind Asylam Walls

I , — . . UNTIL the State and local authorities assume their proper res'ponr sibilities, the present condition of affairs is likely to continue Periodically, "N.Z. Truth", receives letters of complaint concerning the conduct and state of the mental hospitals. Many of these are obviously the emanations of diseased minds and are disregarded. Others, however, are very often from visitors or members of the staff and as such are entitled to investigation. Mostly the complaints deal with allegations of overcrowding, shortness of staff, and bad. conditions. The results of investigations made by this paper re veal, that,;, to , a. ... large extent, such complaints, are ./justified, \on the ';Qthei ;; i^3s^ a Very • earnestV attempt: is' being- made; by the department to put things on a better footing for all concerned. Conversations with nurses, attendants and patients have established the fact that, although much yet remains to be done, very definite progress has been made m the last five years. • ■-.'■. The average person has a very vague idea as to what . goes on behind' the walls of these institutions, . ; . : Although it is easy to sympathise with a man who has lost a leg, one whose reason has gone is an object of suspicion and fear. That this should be so is a sad reflection on our present-day civilisation, and the principle that a person who is mentally sick is just as much entitled to treatment, kindness and .scientific nursing as one who is physically sick has yet to be effectively' impressed' on the public' mind. ■..>' : ■ •' ■ - "Truth" has gone into this matter very fully with the doctors and* officials m control of the Mental Hospitals Department and is convinced that most of them are very earnest people with a iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiriiii

KEEPING THE BRAKE ON REFORM t . ■ • „-■•■. ■ - ■ . . . . Glaring Defects In Mental Hospital System 7%af Demand Prompt Remedy PROGRESSIVE POLICY SORELY REQUIRED Herded behind the gaunt, grey walls of the mental hospitals m New Zealand are hundreds of afflicted people, some of whom should not be there; whose very presence, m fact, militates against the chances of their recovery. , . These particular unfortunates, whose nerves have given away under stress of sorrow, worry or strain, are thrust cheek by jowl with congenital idiots, unmanageable Borstal girls, and elderly people who have become eccentric before the onslaughts of physiological decay. > : . , . ' -■ . .• :_ _^j ■ ' ' ' ■ • '«'<>"'•■■ ■ • ■ ; n. : ■ : ___•«_ ; _ i .

real regard for the unfortunates under their care. That their work is being hampered 'by.', -.bad . conditions, overcrowding and unsuitable buildings is a lamentable fact and this paper has no hesitation m demanding bf the Government, that the matter be taken m hand m a big way and dealt with m a manner that ordinary humanity and commonsense demands. At different times "Truth" has conducted inspections of various mental '

hospitals m New _ Zealand . and each .'.time'has been given c v.e;r y.' ...facility to ■•' vnmi^i;?th;e^^ulle^£r; 'investigation^"* The latest inspection covered Porirua, and wa 3 done with the consent of the. Minister of Health, t he Hon. A. J. Stallworthy. It is hard to conceive the size of Porirua. without actually going over it, but some idea of its. ramifications may be gathered from the fact that over 1500 patients

are quartered there. " ~~~" • The amount of detail and administrative work that is required of the staff m running such an unwieldy establishment where every patient has a different complex and where tne cases of dementia, range clown the scale from the violent and homicidal maniac to tiie imbecile, from birth, is enormous and places too big a strain on both adhii.Tiistratoi's and staff alike. That abuses occur m; such a place is not to be wondered at, but cases of mishandling of patients, beat-ing-up and so forth are becoming more rare,' arid are drastically dealt with. That the department was courageous enough to come out m the open m the recent assault, on a patient there and have the offending attendant publicly brought to justice has done much to restore confidence m the institution. Such cases are a. relic of barbarism and cannot fail to have a brutalising effect oil the attendant and turn the patient into . a cowering -wretch. , '■• It musft also be recognised that the staffs woi'k under a nerve-wracking

Defended Staff

strain and are entitled to as much consideration and encouragement as it is , possible to give them. That conditions are by no means ideal was established by "Truth," but every endeavor is being made to effect improvements. ! The new nurses' home at Poririia, for , instance, is a place of tasteful furnishing and comfortable arrangement. . •••"■' It. /has ' been suggested to this paper that the. type of nurse- and: attendant engaged m mental .hpspitalwork isbelow the standard m ■■ the public hospitals. : When this point was referred to Dr. Gray, the head of the department, ha wag emphatic \x\ refuting ■ ' ■'*■: •■■'■.■ ;'■'■•■ ''• '■ ■" ' ■ : •'" r ". He held that the class of men and women engaged' in; the work was just as good as any hospital staff and .he had every confidence m them. "Truth" commends the doctor for his loyalty to his staff. He seemed keen to obtain the very best for his department to benefit both staff and patients. That he is bound up m the problem is unquestionable and if there is anything lacking- in his l-esults it. is only because he is. hampered by the enormity of the immediate .demandsand the inadequacy of the means at his -disposal. ' \ . . Despite many handicaps under the present administration' many reforms have been put IritO effect m dekiing' ■with patients. The' tendency to treat a mental patient as a wild beast that has to be caged ,is being rapidly dissipated. • In the more recently- erected buildings walled enclosures are a thing of the past and locked doors arc -not numerous. The use of the straight-jacket m which violent cases were .frequent-: •' . ly strapped is gradually being eliminated.

Undoubtedly this policy, although at first regarded witn suspicion and trepidation by attendants used to the old order, is working out for the benefit bf all concerned. Is if not a matter of plain commonsense? A person does not have to be mental to want to escape and find out what lies behind a wall that shuts him m. That is one 6i the most natural things m life. On the other hand, if there is no wall and only a seascape or a lovely vista, m ■. view he is satisfied to take it fbr what

it is and does not want to. wander a mile or two m order to see what lies beyond the horizon. In straight-jacketing, too, to treat a man like an animal is to . make him an animal, and cases are ' hot lacking m American prison history where perfectly sane men have been turned into raving lunatics through the use of this instrument of repression. ' All these reforms are .to the good and are being gradually put into operation m conjunction with the small

5_ — . . -1 . villa system whereby patients are put mto small communities m ideal surtoundings and are graded up or down the scale according to ihe severity of their aberrations or the pi-ogress they make.. These places are m the nature of attractive homes and a suitable staff has .control. The family and community spirit is encouraged amongst the patients and the soothing touch of sympathetic attendance coaxes them back from the edge of the black pit of lunacy to the sunshine of happy life. In the. full development of this

policy lies the hop© of cure for the patients and congenial conditions, for...,. the. staff. The progress is slow and the reforms can on 1 y trickle past the impeding movements of old and antiquated ideas as exemplified m the huge buildings of long corridors, locked doors and cells. It necessarily follows that where a v>'irnber of: mental patients ,are herded together, th c j standard of the ward must be set

to meet the re - quirements of the. worst case m it, and the others suffer accoi'dinglyv If a patient is violent, noisy or objectionable the other patients are disturbed, their nerves are set on edge and the psychological effect cannot be j anything 1 but bad. The villa system is designed to meet this, and New Zealand should not be satisfied until the system is' installed m its entirety and the present buildings of ston© with their corridors, cells and other ap-\ purtenances of the mad-House are abolished. . • ' ■ The Government must also grapple with the question of classification and finance. At present all sorts' of people are consigned to the care of the Mental Hospitals Department. .. . . About five hundred or more congenital idiots are incarcerated m the mental hospitals. The symptoms displayed by these are distinctly a strain on the other mental cases, and the former type should be placed m proper homes. . ■/■They'" are naturally imitative and

Valuable Space

readily pick up the eccentric gestures of trie insane and thus add to the pi teousness-of their own, cases. Then again there are hundreds of old people on. whom the advance of age has had the effect of making them eccentric and queer. Every opportunity is taken to; put them m mental hospitals when;' m common justice and decency, they should >be the care of the hospital boards m properly-appointed homes. ,; This' is a matter • that "calls for immediate action and the Minister of Health will c.dnfer a real benefit on many if he takes the problem m hand and induces the Government to have the matter rectified. The old people and , the congenital idiots combined ;occupy. much valuable spkce In the already ,' ; overcrdwded institutions.' ■ ' ■' ■ , ;■ ■ The present rate ,of building pro-, gress is only sufficient to cope with the natural increase of admissions each year, which amounts to over six hundred for the Dominion or the equivalent of a new wing for a hundred persons m each Of the. four main institutions. Another matter which is of the utmost . gravity and. to which "Truth" calls attention for the first time is 'the practice Of putting into mental, hospitals girls who have become unmanageable m the Borstal prisons; , This cannot be defended and is a 'travesty of justice. If .the prison authorities cannot manage these .wayward girls; then, . they should" make special provision for so doing. By what right are they put under the care of the already --over- . burdened Mental Hospital Department whose function is, ostensibly, to nurse and treat mentally sick people? '-..'•■.■ ;i , This is a question that the Minister of Justice" might answer. , "Truth" has evidence to the effect that these Borstal prisoners are a source of much trouble and woi*ry. to the mental hospital

authorities and are a menace and nuisance to the staff and inmates alike. The present Minister of Health has. not been long m office, and so cannot be asked to shoulder the blame. He has not yet publicly announced his | policy m the matters under review, i though he may do so when the House j meets. ' . ; ! He has shown a sympathetic attitude, however, by his action m I immediately authorising the trans-, J fer of some inmates of ithe overcrowded institution at Porirua to j other places when the matter was :\ brought under his notice. / As a result of its investigations and study of the problem ."N.Z. Truth"., has. no hesitation m indicating to the Minister and the Government the course to be taken. ■ . , • Firstly, should come the. placing of the old people into suitable homes. Similar action should be taken with the congenital idiots, and lihe practice of consigning- Borstal unmanageables to the mental hospitals should be immediately stopped:. •.. ,V ■■ ■-• This will, cleat 1 the way for the, installation of the villa system as advocated by Dr. Truby- King and Dr. Gray, and which is. approved by authorities throughout the world. Money will be required; but this is,a matter which cannot be allowed to stand still on the score of expense. It is undoubtedly the. duty of the Ministry to prbvide sufficient funds to. meet the trouble as it should be; metl When this is done 1 mental sufferers will be treated on humanitarian lines and a reproach/will be removed from our social I ' system which cannot -be" regarded with 'pride, so lpngr as • insane persons are treated >as prisoners or dangerous animals— lierdtjcl like; animals m great buildings like Porirua, Sunnyside and. Ayondale. '.:'..:' llllllllllHlllllllilillllllllllllllllilillllHllllllllllllllllllllllliillllllllllliliJllllllllilllllllli