History Has A Way of Repeating Itself: Institutions & Citizens With Mental Illness

The future of institutions as long-term residences for persons with mental illness is certainly an integral part of the discussion about mental health policy. Usually those discussions focus on state budgets and Medicaid reimbursement and compliance with Olmstead. But, I was intrigued with a recent piece on Scott Hensley's blog on npr.org “A Peaceful War on Mental Institutions”—coverage of a different chapter in the history of mental institutions.

I never realized that many conscientious objectors in World War II were assigned to mental institutions in lieu of military service. Their experiences are documented in a recent piece on NPR ("WWII Pacifists Exposed Mental Ward Horrors") and in two books—Acts of Conscience: World War II, Mental Institutions, and Religious Objectors (by Stephen Taylor and published by Syracuse University Press) and The Turning Point: How Men of Conscience Brought About Major Change in the Care of America's Mentally Ill (by Alex Sareyan and published by American Psychiatric Press).

As I read this tale of the evolution of human conditions within our mental institutions, I was first struck by how much had changed. Then my thoughts wandered to the millions of Americans with mental illness in our corrections system. If we had the same undercover reporting of conditions of these citizens, would the photos be far different?

For more information on mental health in the corrections context, check out:

• Three Times as Many People With Serious Mental Illness in Prisons Than in Psychiatric Hospitals
• Consensus Panel Develops Performance Measures for Correctional Mental Health