Thousands with autism and learning disabilities stuck in mental health hospitals
More than 2,000 people with autism and learning disabilities are stuck in mental health hospitals across England, despite repeated Government promises to end the practice.
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Last month we reported on Nicholas Thornton – who’s been moved to around a dozen inappropriate settings: a safeguarding report on his care shows how poor it’s been.
Our Health and Social Care Editor Victoria Macdonald caught up with him – and a warning her report contains details and images some viewers may find distressing.
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30 Comments
Honestly, guys, the situation in mental healthcare is not one most people understand. The science is still behind many other branches of medicine and there's a real lack of reliable diagnostic techniques. Burn-out is somewhat common in the mental health professions. Medications often involve trial and error. . . There's also the implicit bias and stigma against the mentality ill or disabled which does affect people in health care professions too.
At some point, someone will make a huge advancement in the science of the brain, mental, developmental and personality disorders. But it's a complicated organ and a psychiatrist doesn't have the same kind of refined tools that, say, a cardiologist does. Not yet.
Complaints from patients about inadequate treatment are common. It's not always clear if it's a reasonable complaint or if patients expect more than present-day psychiatry has to offer.
Mental health confinement in the UK is awful, antipsychotic medications such as haloperidol have awful side effects that do more harm than good, the doctor was insisting my friend had to stay on these meds, or they would not get better, and they threatened to keep them sectioned locked in the hospital longer if they didn't keep taking the meds, on these meds they could barely function, cooking food or walking to the shops was exhausting for them, it was only when they got off these meds against the doctors orders did they show signs of getting better. It's very difficult in that situation when they had mental health issues, no one would take what they were saying seriously, they were considered not capable of knowing what is and isn't good for them, and they were threatened to keep taking harmful medications or else the staff would come into their room physically restrain them, pull down their trousers and inject them with a tranquillizer in the butt, and then give them an injection form of the meds that were making them worse and not better. People who are mentally ill and sectioned have fewer rights than someone who is in prison for committing a crime. Staff members threaten to and often tranquilize patients out of convenience rather than necessity, one person who had breathing difficulties was tranquilzed for raising his voice at dinner time saying he felt upset about the conditions in the hospital, he had breathing difficulties and died, he never woke up from being tranquilzed. Doctors run to harmful medications too quickly when things such as art therapy would be more effective, and staff threaten the patients into submission out of convenience.
Both my parents and step parents threatened me going to a mental health hospital I got human rights I could sell my story to the sun newspaper 😊
It’s a living nightmare to be disabled in a Tory Britain
Where is his family? No one will look after him better than family would…
15 unacceptable placements in a decade suggests the problem is not with the care, but the individual.
This is so sad. Since people who have mental health are still on waiting lists for these evil places
Where are peoples familys these days. Why is it the governments problem ?
Why is he in a wheelchair?
Why is he non verbal?
"He's an autistic man with learning disabilities"
Also
"No diagnosed mental health problem"
😂 Which one is it? It can't be both.
I can completely see how this might happen in a general ward or a mental health ward. It isn't that the staff don't understand, it's that this isn't their job. To give a non-healthcare analogy people might understand, it's like putting him on a plane and wondering why the flight attendants can't spend all of their time caring for him.
The story shouldn't be about which public funded body should have to pay to look after Nicholas. The question should be, why can't and why aren't his family looking after him and taking on that financial burden? The brother says he never imagined having to look after his brother, why not? He's not the responsibility of strangers, he's the responsibility of his family. He's going through all of these things because his family aren't fulfilling their obligations.
So sad… Could do better
Maybe try Rwanda, I am told it is nice there.
Thank you for this journalism
I am an autist. Inclusivity only exists if someone can adorn themselves with it. But in every day life you get all the misunderstanding, anger, stigmatism just because you are different. My brain works differently. It can do immensely complex tasks, more so than neurotypical people, but it also has its weaknesses. It's bad enough that we get bad representation in movies and shows, they only show the stereotype of neurotypical writers that imagine how autists must be like. Influencers like @TheCriticalDrinker mock us in every other video and millions laugh.
Also Government and not even many psychologists have knowledge what it means. When I was in therapy, before I was diagnosed, the psychologist said that in his studies he read a little more than a paragraph about autism… so if our experts do not even recognize, how are we supposed to get the help we needed? I do not live in the UK and it was an 8 year struggle to get recognized and support… Autists are cool in videos/movies. Spencer Reid – "Criminal Minds", Lisbeth Salander – "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" (Millennium series), Dr. Gregory House – "House, M.D.", Sheldon Cooper – "The Big Bang Theory", Adrian Monk – "Monk", Max Braverman – "Parenthood", Christopher Boone – "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" (novel), Shaun Murphy – "The Good Doctor", Temperance Brennan – "Bones", Billy Cranston (Blue Ranger) – "Power Rangers" (2017 film) just to name a few… but the moment we don't greet the person on the street, we get stigmatized 😀
I am very open with my autism and let people know why I do things and why some "ridiculously easy things" are impossible for me to do and why some "ridiculously impossible things" are tasks I like to sink my teeth in. It helps to make people understand and thus respect each other better. Good luck to all these disabled people and I hope they get the proper help they deserve.
It's a terrible situation. But I don't know what the answer is. To expect the health care system to look after this man for the next 50+ years seems unfeasible and unfair. I'm not sure where would be the best place for Nicholas. Perhaps with his family?
It’s pretty weird that their symbol is literally three swords.
This is a crime. This is negligence. Why has this man not been taken to a correct placement?
If a judge in any court of law can have absolute immunity in court by being the only one who can recuse themself in a hearing, imagine how much power/immunity the ICC has. The ICC being theInternational Criminal Court.
On the Day, Rishi Sunak choose not to have a Minister for disability. The forgotten in society
No doctor I ever talked to ever asked me a question that wasnt a tick box. They are not trying to understand, they are trying to make money by not understanding
WTF!
This is absolutely appalling. Please don't stop covering this particular case and all the cases of people who A. do not have mental ill-health but are kept in psychiatric hospitals and B. anyone who is mistreated to such a disturbing degree whilst being in any hospital/care facility. Thank you to Nicholas for bravely sharing his story and highlighting this atrocity
We worked so hard to resettle people from old school long term hospitals so people could have better lives. The sector is going back over. So many originations put profit before care. We worked hard for people to have a person centered care provided. I came into this sector to make a difference and this is becoming increasingly difficult to do. Sad times
"The staff don't have autism-specific training," needs to be said, but surely that isn't what's causing staff to be violent. They're hateful people in an authoritarian organization. If you don't know what you're doing, human decency would still do better than this.
Collapsing country. Absolutely awful.😢😢😢😢
I have non verbal autistic son and son with ADHD I get so scared for my sons future as I got fibromyalgia and my health is getting worse it's getting hard as he is turning 8 and getting stronger and big in size everyday and it's cold and cruel world for austistic and learning disabilities child.
i have my name but how nicholas was everywhere
That looks like cerebral palsy, not autism.
They treat human beings like this, when they think you cant do anything about it anyway….
I have autism and fibromyalgia it’s difficult to live without support system currently me and my partner support each other the nhs declined so bad and social services don’t exist the country lacks empathy we on our own we either sink or swim it’s crazy society
Why is it called hospitals ?.
It should be called horrorhouses.
Whats wrong with the people that works there ?.