The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-01-20
SCHOOLS URGED
 TO CURE INSANE
Universities With Recreation And Teaching Of Trades Pro-
 posed By Dr. kempf

WASHINGTON, Jan. 19.-The in sane are now confined to hospitals and asylHms- Instead. they should attend great vocational universities of their own where. under sympathetic guiil- ance, they could lead lives as nearly normal as possible. regain their self respect and eventually he restored to their place in society,"
 The speaker was Dr. Edward !. Kemhf. formerly clinical psyehiarist at St. Elizaheths hospital. Washington. where he had under his care many war veterans suffering from mental disor- ders as the result of their experiences. The conclusion he has reached after re- search there and elsewhere Is that so per cent of mental diseases that are not related to the actual destruction of nervous tissues are curable.
 - If his opinion is upheld under in l,'- pendent investigation 1t must lead. Dr kempf said. to q fundamental change in eur attitude toward, and treatment of the insane. Today eMi,haSisis even in the Nest public, institutions is laid upon caring for the insane and pre- venting them from doing any harm to themselves and to others. The same attention is not devoted to their cure. Dr.. kenpf asserts. yet in dementia praecox types. which constitute the ma jority of all cases of mental diseasc the possibility of improvement ill most cases and<a. cure in many has been demonstrated.
 'The social consequence Of this basic change in eur technique will be profound. Dr. Kempf said. We shall regard the mentally sick as we regard the physically sick A hundred years ago medicine was helpless before many types of illness that today are con siiered curable. In the sane way We neglect today the possibility of re- cOvery in many types of mental dis orders which firmly am convinced can be alleviated and cured.
 Great Increase In Mental Diseases
 Il do not wish. hOwey r. to be un- derstood ;is criticizing the present care of our insane-in this respect we are 20 years ahead of Europe-but 1 feel that the time has now come for a revo- lutiOnafy advance ilt our methods. In 1920 there were approximately 2232.0 .0h patients with mental diseases in insti- tuti0ns. as compared with s.OO0 in 1920 there were approximately 232. 2.00O such patients per IOOsOO of the popll- lation had risen from 2O42 to 220.1- in 1890 it was only 11S.2 and in 1880 S1 .6. lm New York the rate in 1920 as 314.9 per 1UO.000 highest in any state. In part. this figure is due tO the fact that New York is Il rigid c,IS- tOdian of its insane. i'll contrast to cer- tain other states. but the figure also represents to me Il dangerous index of modern life. Thus since 1880. the population of this county has ili- creased HOS per cent while the num- Der Of patients with mental disease in institutions has increased 1GS.3 Der cent.
 Tt k to the. advantage of society as well as of those persons tht inselves that the institution in which they are confined should be patterned after a university rather than an asylum. Such an institution, would offer va riety Of outdoors games to provide recreation for it's patients. along with practical training in handicraft and trades.
 Would this not greatly increase the cost of the mentally diseased tO the State: he was asked.
 Tt would require ;In initial invest ment in buildings and equipment. and it would require a larger number of physicians. nurses and attendants. but in the end tine cost tO the state per patient would be reduced because of the great reduction in the average duration Of a patients illness and Necause of the increase in the number of recOveries.
 Tn what respect would the institu- ton you describe differ from tine con ventiOnal type of sanitarium or asy- lum:''
 Variety Of Sports Needed
 '.In both it's methods as well as its equipment Consider what happens when patient suffering from q mental disorder is committed to hospital Imagine his suffering and distress, confined indefinitely in small hospital ward his judgment discredited. and forced to associate with 20 to J0 other worrying, unhappy people. many of whom have lost control of themselves and become abnormal either Overtly or in fancy. The fact is that the expert enee soon would become uncomfortable to the sane man or woman. and it now is recognized that this sort of confine- ment is extremely distressing even to the insane because of their uncOntrOl- labIe cravings which tend to force them into abnormalities unless vigorous di- versions can be found.
 The technique of the new institu- tion of the university type will be based upon two fundamental princi- ples: first, that the cravings of the individual patient must. in some man. ner. he relieved by giving these cray inss free play to seek directly or in directly what they need; second. that the individual must he assisted and given sufficient freedom and encour- asement to reGlevelOp tlIe conviction Oi being socially fit actually esti- mable in some capacity. for only in this way can he attain substantial seif-control.
 ''Bet how. you may ask. are we tO protect both the community and the patient himself while giving him the greatest possible relief from his cray inss? Common sense and practical ex- rcrience show that tine patients are right when they plead for more liberty and opportunity to get vigorous out door exercise which will exhaust the volcanic surplus Of energy and fatigue them sufficiently to induce sleep when hxy XM0x.1.x, ALo,,k II