What does mental health empowerment look like? How do we make sure that those seeking mental health care have safety and kindness? What does a typical ‘psych ward’ experience look like? This following blog post will describe the story of psychiatric institutions infused with some history, and dreams of the future realm of these institutions (Or perhaps new paths outside of these institutions). If you have experience with psychiatric facilities, please feel free to ground yourself before reading, or come back to this content when you feel ready. I am eternally learning about these subjects and will list options for further reading if you are called to learn more. This blog post will be a continued series, and more posts will come.

Almost all of us will have experience with, or be close to someone who experiences a mental health crisis. This may look like a psychosis or ‘break’ from reality, intense suicidal thoughts, or panic attacks. In these moments time may feel warped or the future may feel hopeless. Many people take themselves, or have friends and family assist them in going to an emergency room for help. This may include an assessment and transportation to a psychiatric facility. Some people enter psych wards voluntarily, and some are admitted involuntarily. This involuntary admittance is part of a law called section 5150 of the California Welfare and Institutions Code (WIC).. If there is probable cause that a person is a danger to themselves or others, and is experiencing a mental health crisis, they may be admitted to a psych ward involuntarily. The person will be held in the psych ward for at least 72 hours before being re-evaluated. Typical experiences in psychiatric facilities vary greatly, but many traumatic stories circulate. There are first hand accounts of racism, transphobia, underpaid and understaffed employees, among other systemic issues. These stays in psychiatric facilities are more common than we think, but feel hidden. There may be shame and embarrassment that prevent someone from disclosing that they spent time in a psychiatric facility, along with traumatic memories. How did these psychiatric institutions come to be? What is their history?

I would like to reference Dr. Jennifer Mullen, who wrote the book ‘Decolonizing Therapy’. I cannot recommend this book enough. Dr. Mullen shows the connection between colonization and the roots of western mental health. “Modern treatments of mental and behavioral health are most associated with the establishment of hospitals and asylums beginning in the 16th century. Such institutions’ missions were to house and confine those they deemed mentally ill, poor, homeless, unemployed and criminal. (Mullen, 2023, p. 103). Scientific ‘experts’ in the mid 1800s coined the term ‘Drapetomania’, or the term for a Black person fleeing slavery to seek freedom. In 1903, the ‘Hiawatha Insane Asylum for Indians’ was opened, where the federal government forcibly sent Native Americans who refused to concede land or practiced their traditional spirituality. The world of psychiatric institutions was born from labeling people as ‘diseased’ or ‘uncontrollable’. There is a much longer and complex history of psychiatric institutions that I am not delving into here, but encourage people to look into this. All of this subject matter is painful to learn, but I argue that this history must be learned in order to understand current systems and dream up different ways of care in the future. And so, what can be done in the future? What do we want mental health crisis care to look like?

There are many people who have been advocating for those using mental health crisis services, to have input or be in charge of how these services operate. I am aware of networks of people setting up peer support spaces, and respite spaces. Peer support means that those with lived experience support those currently going through mental health challenges. For example, a person just exiting a psychiatric facility could receive support from a peer who has been a patient in a psychiatric facility themselves. In this way, the lived experience of people is honored, as opposed to a clinician that has some form of training, but not necessarily lived experience. I will list the link below for one such organization called ‘Peer Support Space’. This organization also set up what is known as ‘Peer Respite Services’. This is a home dedicated to healing and is staffed by compassionate peers; it is free to stay. I live in the San Jose area in California, and know of another respite home called ‘Blackbird House’ that allows guests to stay up to 14 days. It seems that these respite centers are few and far between; I am hopeful that more can become established. I imagine what it must feel like to enter a home environment with unlocked doors and understanding peers in a time of crisis. Perhaps there is a garden in the back, or art supplies, or ingredients to cook a comforting meal. I will continue to dream up and imagine ways to support people in crisis, knowing that we are headed towards more compassionate and empowered care.

Link to Peer Support Space: https://peersupportspace.org/