Specifically, I was thinking of the book, WILL THERR EVER BE A MORNING, by Francis Farmer. It made a huge impact on mental health care in the 1950s. It changed the way hospitals and doctors literally tied pts to beds and drugged them and took away their rights.
That led to a backlash, where all the doors were opened and ill people flooded the streets, with-no dr, no medications, no therapy and no place to live.
I think we're finally coming back to center, but a wiser center.
Tangentially, difficult child was watching a show on TV the other day. A woman was in a psychiatric hospital and there was a scene where she was convinced that her husband's life was in danger, so she tried to leave. White-coated thugs grabbed her by the arms and forced her to stay, while the head dr smirked.
I didn't want difficult child to think that people could really be forced like that and I told him that it was against the law. I said, "This is fiction. Is this The Twilight Zone?"
He said, "No, Desperate Housewives."
ROFLMAO!!!!