through the tunnel, endlessly seeking

historical accounts of mental health, 1960s-70s From my searches the majority of historic information is from the medical profession perspective, with commentary from those who look upon these medics as saviours of society, taking on these societal misfits. Keeping them off the streets. I have found very few accounts from patients and service users, telling…

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Mental health: a personal view in verse

I wrote this verse during my first hospital admission, two weeks before I was to turn 19. The structure and language are self-conscious, embarrassingly so, but it held enough truth for one of the ward sisters to keep a copy. About 40 years later the same sister arrived to work the night shift on the…

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Mental health treatment: a personal history

Last weekend I watched the film ‘Mad to be Normal’, the story of Scottish psychiatrist Dr R D Laing, starring David Tennant.  Laing trained and worked at the Glasgow Mental Hospital before travelling down to London, where he founded a therapeutic community, Kingsley Hall in 1965. The community remained open until 1970. His radical approach…

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