Welcome.

Welcome.

Originally uploaded by Dame Margot Fonteyn.
Our local psychiatric hospital has been taking a bit of a beating recently. A member of staff went anonymously to the press to complain about what they considered to be rotten institutional policy in as far as violence management is concerned. I don’t expect they thought the thing through. Psychiatry is emerging from its dark ages, stigma is still one of the fundamental barriers to the demystification and treatment of some of the most horrific illnesses still haunting our sun-kissed countryside. People trying to deal with problems arising from psychiatric illness don’t need this kind of nonsense. Anyone who has had to convince a mentally ill friend or relative to seek treatment knows what I’m rabbiting on about. You have to wonder about what personal issues drive a mental health professional to bring the business into disrepute. Whistleblowing culture smells. I was up at the hospital today. Motivated, innovative people are feeling even more uncomfortable than usual because of all this nonsense. Psychiatry is difficult enough without all the wee vanity issues that appear to be whirling round this particularly ugly little episode. My, we have come a long way…