Happy happy joy joy ... uh ... maybe not
![King_of_the_Hill_alley[1].jpg](http://trouble.philadelphiaweekly.com/archives/King_of_the_Hill_alley%5B1%5D.jpg)
It was just a few years ago when Celebration Recovery was presented by the Irwin Foundation in collaboration with APA. According to the Irwin Foundation's director back in 2005, "Celebration Recovery highlights an emerging concept in psychiatry that emphasizes person-centeredness, respect, responsibility, hope, choice, quality of life, consumer and family agency and empowerment, self-help, partnership, diversity, and community inclusiveness." All the deliciousness of recovery, in other words. The event was held in Austin, Texas, at the NAMI convention in 2005.
Sadly, as Joe points out, fast-forward three years, and you get this from the Associated Press:
Employee disciplinary records show abuse and neglect are systemic in mental hospitals in Texas, which has worked over the past year to revamp its juvenile prison system because of similar allegations, according to a report published Sunday.Seventy-two workers have been fired in the past three years over allegations of abuse, while hundreds of others have been fired for other violations, including sleeping on the job and overmedicating patients, according to personnel records obtained by The Dallas Morning News.
The violence against patients included choke holds, headlocks and threats against patients at the state's 10 psychiatric hospitals, the newspaper reported.
There are about 18,000 patients and about 7,400 employees in the state psychiatric hospital system.
Ah, Austin. Those were the good old days.
Mental health is latest Texas agency to bear abuse criticism
Comments
Along the same lines, "Mental health help hit by budget crunch" [yesterday at http://tinyurl.com/6peq54] but this was the promise as put forth by CA's Mental Health Commissioner after the passage of Proposition 63, a 1% tax on incomes over $1 MM dedicated to the expansion of CA's mental health programs:
"Proposition 63 presents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to transform our mental health system to one that is based on principles of recovery, programs that work and involvement of all of our stakeholders, especially the consumers and family members. California can lead the way by developing a system that keeps individuals in their communities with treatment and supports from a variety of sources, rather than in institutions or on the street. A satisfying quality of life in the community is possible with integration, proven programs, accountability and, most of all, better and earlier access."
The original representations so often build a Potemkin Village of Recovery, Wellness, Evidence Based Practices, and Quality Care. Unfortunately, mental health consumers live in that village which the ultimate reality creates.
Posted by: Joe | May 6, 2008 01:32 PM
Reminds me of my first stay at "camp" aka known as a mental instituition, "hotels" being regular medical hospitals....
So I am at my first "camp" that I ended up in with a resounding thump and sending earthquakes through our family. Mom was visiting me and out of the blue (or all that I remember of the conversation) says, you know in Texas they still do lobotomies..
Thanks Mom! Good to know Texas is current with Mental Health care...
Not sure if this was true or not, it scared the crap out of me..
Posted by: ttq | May 6, 2008 05:07 PM
Texas is having quite a rough time with things lately aren't they. Those stats are pretty sobering.Makes me glad I'm not in a psychiatric Hospital in Texas. I wonder what the numbers are in New York State.
Posted by: mark | May 7, 2008 09:31 AM
To say nothing of the thousands and thousands of mentally ill people launguishing in US prisons. Whaddya wanna bet they'e medicated to the hilt? No wonder they never get out.
Posted by: hysperia | May 11, 2008 07:31 PM