tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4723755846699098373.post3849228975204890929..comments2024-03-23T17:49:56.783-07:00Comments on oldfoolrn: Institutional Misogynism: The Women of Downey VA HospitalOldfoolrnhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01747485143127099085noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4723755846699098373.post-65771223978964870832023-01-20T13:06:57.329-08:002023-01-20T13:06:57.329-08:00The Reagan years were well known for the permanent...The Reagan years were well known for the permanent closure of so many long-term government supported mental hospitals. Conservatism to save a buck combined with the other side of the political spectrum which claimed that mental patients were deprived of their rights while institutionalized, really accelerated the closure of mental hospitals. When liberals and conservatives agree, just about any issue marches forward at warp speed.<br /><br />Some liberal (if you could even label them) psychiatrists like R.D. Laing went so far as to claim mental illness was a normal adaptive response to an insane world. I don't know about that, but the bottom line was these folks could not take care of themselves and are now living life on the street or in inadequate housing. A very sad set of circumstances. Oldfoolrnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01747485143127099085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4723755846699098373.post-68993336208991719212023-01-20T07:47:47.067-08:002023-01-20T07:47:47.067-08:00As bad as full-time residential care could be, the...As bad as full-time residential care could be, there were compassionate institutions. I worked a few years at Spring Grove State Mental Hospital outside of Baltimore (not in patient care). It was okay. Reagan’s solution was to defund all of it and now we have psychotics with dual diagnoses living in tents on the streets of our cities.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4723755846699098373.post-71020138453699331832022-11-01T12:42:30.085-07:002022-11-01T12:42:30.085-07:00It's so good to hear from you, Sue. I'm gr...It's so good to hear from you, Sue. I'm gradually returning to the world of the living after my surgical misadventures with total knee replacement. Folks my age are like old cars; fix one thing like the engine and the transmission goes out.<br /><br />Believe it or not they actually showed the movie, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest at Downey. We had a full size movie theater there and it was sad in a way because the patients were happy because a movie was made about them. I can't imagine how beat up by mental illness they were to identify with such forlorn characters.<br /><br />Being hospitalized was a novel experience for me and I should probably post about what a parallel universe it seemed like. I was very impressed by the youthful zest of the whippersnaperns. They worked so hard and with so much compassion!Oldfoolrnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01747485143127099085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4723755846699098373.post-2263348477364655672022-11-01T03:10:38.760-07:002022-11-01T03:10:38.760-07:00Hi OFRN, I just came by to check on you after not ...Hi OFRN, I just came by to check on you after not coming by for quite a while, and I am heartened to hear you are slowly recovering and back to blogging again!<br /><br />I only recently watched One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest for the first time, what a brilliant movie and your recent posts make me think of it. <br /><br />I found the suffering of patients on our psych unit hard enough to bear - as we were not a locked unit, the worst cases got sent to the nearby large psychiatric hospital. I doubt I would manage for long at somewhere like Downey. It's good to know there were caring nurses like yourself there at least.<br /><br />We are having a cold, wet Spring so far - much of Australia has had severe flooding this past year - seems lately if it's not bushfires it's floods. I often take a look at a blog called Pied Type to keep up with things in the USA - she links to some Australian bloggers I follow. <br /><br />I am glad to see you back here again and send my warmest wishes for you all over there, I hope your family are all well!<br /><br />Cheers from Sue in damp, chilly New South Wales, Australia!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com