Quote:
Originally Posted by powderjunkie
Yup. I'm not sure we've landed at the right place for our current definitions and procedures related to mental capacity. Of course in the past 'insane-asylums' and mental health treatments were pretty awful (not sure they are that much better today), but it seems like in the earlier half of the 20th century that homeless/hobo types may have been able to live a more dignified existence with fewer societal impacts (but I really don't know...maybe the prevalence of slums/ghettos tints that view).
This comes into play with addictions, too. No good solutions; any improvements will be very $$$, but the status quo ain't great.
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There were hundreds of thousands more mentally ill people institutionalized in the North America a couple generations ago than there are today. In the U.S. in the late 50s, there were 339 state psychiatric hospital beds per 100,000 people*. By 2000 there were 22 per 100,000 people.
Those institutions could be pretty awful, and community based treatment is more humane in most respects. But lots and lots of people fall through cracks who previously would have been under close supervision.
The crux of the problem is how do you deliver care to people who are socially isolated, and in many cases spurn treatment because they want to be left alone?
* To put that in context, if we had that ratio in Calgary today, there would five psychiatric hospitals in the city with 1,000 residents each (about the size of Foothills hospital).