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RE: Hospitals a good Idea?

in #health7 years ago

This is a complete sidenote on mental illness, but your post made me think of it. I love February because Turner Classic Movies channel shows a ton of Oscar nominated and Oscar winning films, many that you can't find on streaming services.

I recorded and watched The Snake Pit, a 1948 movie nominated for Best Picture, Director, Screenplay, and Actress (Olivia de Havilland). It's one of those films I'd heard of but never had a chance to see. This was a landmark film (based on a semi-autobiographical novel) that showed the realities of state mental hospitals and the methods they used for treatment. Because of this movie, 26 states enacted legislation to upgrade mental institutions and provide better care for patients. The psychology behind the lead character's illness plays a little silly in 2017 (basically, daddy issues), but the portrayal of her experience in the asylum still played incredibly well. I just found it interesting how sometimes it takes something like a movie or a TV series to bring attention to a problem like this and make a change. I think how we deal with mental illness has made incredible strides over the decades but based on what I still see and read, we still have so much room for improvement.