To our shame

IN Victorian times, when mental health institutions were established, the preferred practice was to place the buildings outside the confines of the town. In large green spaces, away from the enquiring eyes of the general public, those with what might today be described as learning difficulties were secreted away and held. Looking back at what many might describe as unenlightened times, we hope that we have progressed in a modern age. Judging from the report published this week by the Irish State’s mental health inspectors, this seems not to be case.

According to a report in The Irish Times, the wards in several of Ireland’s psychiatric hospitals have been described as “unfit for human habitation”. It is recommended that the doors of these places be shut with all haste so that the human rights of the inmates, I use that word deliberately, be respected.
The language of the report is not so strong with regard to the closures but maybe it should be. It is clear from the report that we have not progressed at all from the days of Victorian shame with regard to how we treat those in our community with mental health problems.
In total, there are 2,700 people being housed in the 63 psychiatric hospitals mentioned in the report. Like their counterparts in Victorian times, these people are being kept out of sight of the general population in conditions that seem to have progressed little since that time. Their voices are not being heard and their protests can easily be dismissed as irrelevant because of their condition.
Asked individually what action they would take to help a person with mental health issues, it is hard to believe that most readers of this newspaper would opt to hide them away in ancient crumbling buildings that are depressing and counter-productive in terms of their mental well-being.
Most would not put children in adult wards against the recommendations of best practice in the field. Why then do the people of Ireland collectively allow such actions to take place? Those who suffer from mental illness continue to be marginalised in Ireland, as they have been since Victorian times. Despite what we tell ourselves, little has changed since that time.
The article on the report published in The Irish Times said the Health Service Executive (HSE) was unavailable for comment. This is hardly a surprise. In my time as a working journalist, the only organisations I have found to be less cooperative in terms of commenting on their failures than the HSE have been the peddlers of petro-chemicals.
In a way, we should be glad that this report has been published. I must admit, I personally was under the impression that the historical throwbacks of the kind these institutions represent had been abolished a long time ago.
For 20 years, the official policy in terms of the treatment of mental health has been to recognise that institutions of this kind are not beneficial and are, in fact, a regressive step. What is clear is that the Government has for years been propagating something of a mistruth in this area. Certainly, there has been a move towards treatment in the community but it is plain from this report that this has not happened entirely.
When Britain went to war in Iraq, many people took to the streets with banners and signs bearing the words ‘not in my name’. Similar sentiments were expressed by anti-war protestors at Shannon Airport when it became clear that Clare’s local airport was a cog in the war machine. Those who mounted such protests were dismissed as hopeless idealists at the time. Maybe more consideration needs to be given to their position. Their passion is what politics is all about.
True, the political climate in Ireland for the last number of years has dismissed and tended to try and negate activism but maybe it is time to reclaim our political rights by taking to streets in protest against the status quo. Just because it has not worked in the past is no reason to be convinced it will not work in the future.
There is also an important consideration to take into account and that is that the Government and politicians in general have been exposed for the incompetents they are. Civil and public servants are being forced to bail out the Government financially for their mistakes, so the national mood is primed for real change.
Even in the best of times, the carers, mental health workers and social workers tried to draw our attention to the grave injustices inherent in Irish society and, to our shame, we did not heed them. Now from the ashes of a ruined ideology we have a chance to instigate real change. Funds for change will not be easy to find but there are many places where cuts can be made.
In this, I am not referring to the wages of the public service workers being brutalised at the moment but those ‘servants of the people’ in Leinster House, who view themselves as our political masters. I’ve lost count of the number of times I have quoted this fact but in the 1950s, a TD earned the same wages as a teacher. Compare them now, particularly post-Budget.
The brutality of the inequality in modern Ireland is staggering. The Irish Times quoted the report by the inspectors of mental health facilities as follows, “At St Ita’s in Portrane, County Dublin, they said 125 people were being forced to live in ‘appalling conditions’ and it was ‘difficult to convey the extent of dilapidation’.
“Long corridors in poor conditions, toilets with no privacy, paint peeling, mould in showers, broken furniture, ill-fitting doors, cramped dormitories, the smell of urine, poor ventilation and a bare drab environment were clearly evident.”
Have you seen the splendid surroundings in Leinster House recently?