Community urged to care for mental patients |21 May 2005

Over the years people with mental illness have been stigmatised and in some cases this has had a negative effect on their recovery speed, Les Cannelles psychiatric hospital coordinator Maria Louise said recently.

“Once patients are dismissed this doesn’t mean that they are fully recovered. They should still take their medication and in many cases they don’t.

Family members should encourage them to take their medication so that they can recover fully,” Mrs Louise said.
She said that the hospital is working in close collaboration with families of the people being admitted there, to help patients to recover.

Presently there are 49 patients – 24 males and 25 females – admitted with different health disorders at the Les Cannelles Hospital. They have bipolar disorders, schizophrenia, anxiety disorders, epilepsy and other mental conditions associated with drug and alcohol abuse.

There is a team of 42 staff among whom are eight qualified nurses, 19 nursing assistants, an occupational health assistant, two trained psychiatric nurses, six unskilled workers and an administration assistant, who take care of the patients and oversee the day-to-day running of the hospital.

“Even if some of the patients are mentally retarded at birth a large number of them have mental illnesses related to substance abuse,” Mrs Louise said.

To bring some excitement to the inmates, a series of entertaining activities are organised every month. These activities such as birthday parties for the inmates as well as outdoor events such as shopping in town and lunch in restaurants are also aimed at encouraging family members to participate.

Mrs Louise noted the increase in the number of different groups in districts and various organisations, which visit the hospital and spend time with the patients. This she said makes the inmates feel more accepted.

While talking about the treatment Mrs Louise noted that over the last few years there has been an improvement in the services and treatment for people with mental illnesses. She said that the most commonly used treatment entails the use of neuroleptics which may, however have adverse effect on patients.

“But we do have other treatments for these adverse effects,” she added.
Another important form of treatment being carried out at the hospital is counseling. The management has also set up a rehabilitation programme.

Mrs Louise said that over the last few years there has been an increase in the number people being admitted at the Les Cannelles hospital, majority of whom are recurrent patients who do not follow treatment.