My former therapist never bothered to figure out what would happen after they exercised their power to take somebody’s freedom away. Or, if they did, they didn’t bother to tell me. So, like any Zillennial in the 21st century, I turned to Google and decided to find out for myself.
And what I found was pretty ugly. There are several sites that compile stories of psychiatric survivors, and some of them are tough to read. Practices like restraints and isolation are not uncommon. I also found a number of stories that discussed strip searches, performed either as a physical exam or to search for contraband. These were not always something the patient could refuse, even if they had a history of trauma. One UN report even likened common psychiatric practices to torture.
This was mostly new information to me, and I was horrified. If trauma plays such a huge role in so many mental health issues, why would the places designed to treat the most severe of those issues create more trauma? Read more…
