Introduction
The history of Psychiatric care is one which is distinguished by stories of
both heroism and cruelty. Attitudes to mental illness and treatment have
been as much subject to the whims of politics, science, religion and fashion
as any other aspects of human behaviour.
We now live in a time where attitudes to severe psychological disorders are
much more tolerant than they have been in times gone by. In the past, such
people might have been deemed to be 'posessed' by evil spirits or even
just 'bad' people. Nowadays, certainly in the Western world we tend to
use a sickness/health model to provide a framework from which to view what
is happening.
The Medical Model seeks to classify, collate, study and treat mental disorders
as if they were the same as pathological physical conditions. People are
treated in hospitals, clinics and health centres and encouraged to lead
as normal a life as possible, preferably in the community rather than in
large institutions.
Despite this, the old attitudes can tend to linger somewhat. Although many of the
erstwhile Asylums - the big psychiatric hospitals of the last couple of
centuries - have closed down or changed their roles, the stigma and the
stories still live on.
I hope you will enjoy my stories. I have been fortunate enough to have worked
with so many interesting people over the years. A large number of them
have left me deeply moved and will never be forgotten. Certain details
have been changed out of respect and to protect confidentiality.
Andrew Mallett
RPN, RGN, BN, Grad Dip Couns/Psychotherapy
October 2001 Tasmania
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