RECOGNITION OF MENTAL DISORDERS AS ILLNESS

Press, Volume XCV, Issue 28258, 22 April 1957, Page 14

RECOGNITION OF MENTAL DISORDERS AS ILLNESS

Medical recognition that mental illness is a form of sickness, often curable, is one of the greatest advances in understanding human behaviour. Public recognition of this has so far lagged behind, and there are still people in New Zealand who go to extraordinary lengths to conceal from their friends mental sickness in their families, says an article in “Health,” the official journal of the Health Department. The notion that mental illness is a stigma, and that mental hospitals are places of shame, has come down through history like superstition, anl it no more belongs to 1957 than does the belief that witches ride broomsticks, the article says. Mental sickness, like many another illness to which anyone is subject, is often easily cured if treated early. If neglected, then remedial measures are longer, and more complex. Like patients in our general hospitals, the majority of those in our mental hospitals are successfully restored to health. Remedial techniques mitigate the effects of the more serious forms of,mental sickness, and progress made in the treatment of mental illness in New Zealand over the last 25 years is convincing evidence of what medical science can achieve.

Many families feel shocked, horrified, and ashamed when mental illness occurs in their midst. They must strive to overcome these feelings and develop a rational attitude. They will naturally want to know the reason for the person’s mental state, and they will need courage and understanding to know how to act towards the patient on visits and how to treat him when he comes home as a convalescent. They can be greatly helped by talking over problems with the patient’s doctor. He will tell them as much as he can, but they must not be disappointed if he cannot explain the illness in exact terms, for often the causes are extremely complex and not always known. As well as personal consultation, there are books written specially to help everyday people to understand mental health and illness.