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Hi- I've read many good comments presented here, from the need to include voices of people with mental illness treated at OSH to the staff who have worked there. I can say that I have referred a number of people to the geriatric units of OSH. On several occasions family have thanked me after the fact because they were greatful that there was a resource to help deal with their geriatric relatives and friends. Some of the complaints I heard were "It was too grey (meaning the walls I believe)." I have also heard from one family that they were concerned that the OSH staff may not be able to keep their loved one from hurting others, which their loved one would be upset about if he had been his former self before dementia with aggression set in.

Psychiatric illness and the functioning of the brain in general is so complex. The symptom of anosognosia, lack of insight into and appreciation for the reality of one's illness, one's symptoms and the effects of it must be accounted for when looking at making progress in enabling people with certain illnesses to be as functional as possible. This symptom interferes with a person's ability to make rational decisions when one is ill with certain types of schizophrenia, bipolar disored and other psychotic illnesses. There are no easy solutions. One thing I have noticed in Oregon is more stigma about treatment for mental illness then I have seen elsewhere. I wish the people in power would tour some of the acute inpatient psychiatric units in the state and speak to staff and patients who have worked/lived at OSH and other state hospitals. There is much expertise here in Oregon and we may have better insights then expensive "expert" consultants from elsewhere who have not had first hand experience before, during and after OSH treatment.

posted 3 years, 1 month ago
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