Week Five - "Choice Discussion" Article

The Mentally Ill and "Improving" Treatments

Psycho.
Freak.
"Weird."

These are just some of the things we call those who are mentally ill, and yet, in this age, we now present the most advanced care for those with psychological disorders. Hundreds of years ago, patients with schizophrenia and bi-polar disorder were often locked away into asylums where cruel and unusual experiments were performed on them. Today, we deplore such activities, but have we really gotten past our prejudice against those we deem "insane?"

In terms of medical treatment, the answer would be yes. The medicines which are used to help manage these illnesses are widely available to those that need them, whereas previous treatments back in the day might have called for electric shocks or insulin-induced comas. Mentally illnesses are now wordly recognized as legitimate diseases, not "demon possessions." Medicine, through the ages, has helped to improve the lives of many.

However, this is not the end of the story. Though medicine may have improved, the population most certainly has not. The judgements and stereotypes we place on such people still lives on. Prime examples live on today in popular television shows. In some crime dramas, mentally handicapped patients are fingered for violent crimes when, in reality, those with these kinds of disorders are less likely to do so. It doesn't just end there, though. In June of last year, a Esmen Green, a woman with a mental illness, was committed for observation in Kings County Hospital in New York. She suddenly collapsed into convulsions and died not long after; however, she was not alone. There was two other patients in the room with her as well as a security guard. They all stood by and watch for lay on the ground for over an hour. Evidence even shows that the hospital doctored its records to contend that Green was alive after her death to cover themselves in case of a lawsuit for not having taken action sooner.

Some might think that the case of Esmen Green is a rarity. However, she is not alone. Many others in the past years have also perished from the neglect of their caregivers, most especially when the patient has a mental illness. From these observations, it can be gathered that although medical treatments for the mentally ill have improved, the way we ourselves treat them has not. We all still have a very long way to go.