The History of Deinstitutionalisation of the Mentally Ill in America

　
Deinstitutionalisation is the process of replacing long-stay psychiatric hospitals with less isolated community living mental health services with mentally ill or developmentally challenged patients Deinstitutionalisation is aimed at reducing the population size of mental institutions shortening the length of stays, and reducing both admissions and readmission
Deinstitutionalisation is the practice of transferring homeless, involuntarily hospitalized mental patients from state mental hospitals into different kinds of psychiatric institutions funded by the federal government The plan is striving to combat mental illness in the United State.
In many cases, the mass deinstitutionalisation of the mentally ill from the 1960s onwards has translated into a mass release of patients into the community. Individuals who previously would have been in mental institutions are no longer supervised by health care workers.
The 19th century saw a large expansion in the number and size of asylums Although initially were thought to be moral and humane confinement they became o non-therapeutic, isolated in location, and neglected in the care require
By the beginning of the 20th century, the admissions had resulted in serious overcrowding. inadquate funding especially during periods of economic decline, and war, many patients starved to death. Asylums became institutions with poor living conditions, lack of hygiene, overcrowding, ill-treatment, and abusive
The first community-based alternatives started in the 1920s and 1930s, asylum numbers continued to increase up to the 1950s deinstitutionalisation began strongly in various countries in the 1950s and 1960s.
Public outrage helped expose the poor conditions and treatment. Sociologists argued that these institutions created dependency, passivity, exclusion and disability and caused people to be instistutionalized much like prison
Community services were thought to be cheaper and new psychiatric medications made it more feasible to release people into the communit
Community services began with supported housing with full or partial supervision within the public community Costs have been said to be lower in some ca
Although deinstitutionalisation has been positive for the majority of patients for some it has severe repurcussions
Hopes that ommunity care would lead to fuller social integration are not achieved; many remain without work, have limited social contacts and often live in sheltered environments.
Community services are often unable to meet complex needs. Services in the community sometimes isolate the mentally ill where clients meet each other but have little contact with the rest of the community. Instead of community living reforms established an Open air Institution
Often there is insufficient preparation or support. A greater proportion of people with mental disorders became homeless or are imprisoned Homelessness has increased in some states in the USA Families can often play a crucial role in the care of those who would be placed in long-term treatment centers; however, many mentally ill people are resistant to such help because of the mental condition The majority of those who would be under continuous care in long-stay psychiatric hospitals are paranoid and delusional to the point that they refuse help and do not believe they need it, which makes it difficult to treat them.
Moves to community living and services leads to various concerns and fears, from both the individuals themselves and other members of the community
In every category of crime, including rape/sexual assault, other violent assaults, and personal and property theft the incident rates have increased The rates are similar in those with developmental disabilities
The unfounded idea that people with mental disorders released into the community are more likely to be dangerous and violent, a large study indicated that they were no more likely to commit violence than those in the neighborhoods usually economically deprived and high in substance abuse and crime where they are typically placed in
Findings on violence committed by those with mental disorders in the community have been inconsistent a higher rate of the most serious offenses such as homicide has sometimes been found but, despite high-profile homicide cases, the evidence suggests this has not increased ofdeinstitutionalisatio Aggression and violence that does occur is usually within the families
Deinstitutionalisation began in the USA IN 1950s and targeted people with mental illness. 15 years after individuals who had been diagnosed with a developmental disability were being placed in the community Although these movement began over 50 years ago, deinstitutionalisation continues today
The social forces that have led to a move for deinstitutionalisationpublic opinion of those with mental disabilities, and state's desire to reduce facilities for the mentally ill
Public awareness of the conditions of mental institutions began to increase during World War II Following WWII, articles and exposes about the mental hospital conditions would bombard popular and scholarly magazines and periodicals. These findings led to increased knowledge that mental illness was moderately prevalent. More importantly, people began to realize that cost that would be associated with more individuals being admitted to mental institutions (i
This time period was the beginning in the change of public and congressional attitudes toward the mentally ill. Since many individuals suffering from mental illness had served in the military, many began to think that more knowledge about mental illness and better services could benefit the men that served as well as the nation as a whole. that would be essential in developing the mental health field.
During the 1950s many new drugs became available and incorporated into therapy for the mentally ill. These new drugs were effective in reducing severe symptoms, which would allow people with mental illnesses to live in communities Drug therapy not onlyt depopulated the mental institutions, but it also opened opportunities for employment of the mentally
In general, professionals, civil rights leaders, and humanitarians saw deinstitutional confinement to local care as the appropriate approach.The Movement started off slowly but when it adopted the philosophy of the Civil Rights Movement It took off During the 1960s, deinstitutionalisation decreased dramatically as the average length of stay decreased by more than half. Instead of placing people with mental illnesses in long term institutions, many began to be placed in community care facilities where they could get care for their mental health needs. The deinstitutionalisation that took place in the United States was a transition from a mental institution to a more community centered facility
As hospitalisation costs increased due to improvements advocated by civic groups, both the federal and state governments desired to find less expensive alternatives to hospitalisation With the government on the side of deinstitutionalisation, getting legislation passed proved less difficult
Observers of the homeless issue also saw a change related to deinstitutionalisation Studies from the late 1980s indicated that one-third to one-half of homeless people had severe psychiatric disorders, often occurring with substance abuse
　
While the original idea of deinstitutionalization as it was in the beginning as a more humane way of living for the mentally ill There are still flaws which continue to make Community Living an alternative that needs to be restructuted to the individual eeds of each person with a mental disorder
Grouping and labeling of people continues to be a form of predjudice which still thrives with the stigma of Mental Illness