Posted by bluedog on January 6, 2003, at 10:37:05
In reply to Re: Movies that feature Therapy/mental illness, posted by syringachalet on January 6, 2003, at 1:35:12
Syringachalet
Your post has given me very much food for thought. You would probably be surprised to learn that my job also involves dealing with exactly the same type of people that you deal with in your job. Those that no-one else wishes to deal with including their own families.
The problems you speak of in the USA are almost exactly the same here in Australia with severely ill people simply living on the streets. I think it's pure economics that drives these laws. Governments simply don't want to make the necessary funds available for sufficient beds at state psychiatric facilities because there are simply no votes in it for them.
It pure irony that I deal with people on a daily basis who suffer from the most severe forms of mental illness that you can possibly imagine and here I am myself also a psychiatric patient. In comparison to the people I deal with I really have no cause for complaint but it's still difficult to put it into perspective when you are severely depressed and feeling suicidal and you are not well enough to continue carrying out the duties of your job. (I've only recently returned to work after a four month sick leave period)
Professional detachment is absolutely necessary but still very cruel. I know this because I have myself been at the receiving end of that professional detachment that I myself have had to exercise but it's still a very bitter pill to swallow especially when you are at a low point.
In my job we often need to call the Psychiatric Emergency Team (PET) who will arrive with the police to take away a person who has "lost it". This usually involves the police restraining the person in question and then a sedative being administered and then a trip to the local psych clinic for some R&R. Normally these people are back on the streets within days.
I suppose due to my job and my own illness I usually become numb after viewing movies like like "Cuckoos Nest" or "Girl Interrupted" and why I much prefer the the comical approach of movies like "Analyse This"
Though I still think "Girl Interrupted" was a very good movie.
warm regards
bluedog
poster:bluedog
thread:34562
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20030104/msgs/34692.html