Evening star., 1960-10-14
st. Efzobeths

The recent publicity con-
cerning st. Elizabeths Hos
pital has caused our associa-
ton great concern. This
publicity has included allega-
tions in court and letters in
the press. Most people in the
profession are aware that the
general public is only too
willing to accept misunder-
stood concepts concerning
psychiatry and mental hos
pitals. This is in a great part
due to the natural defense
mechanism Of the average
person. With one person out
Of 10 dying in q mental hos
pital, the average person
fears his own latent abnor-
mality. He attempts to defend
this to himself and others by
pretending that psychiatry
and the mental health pro-
fession are in error.
st. Elizabeths Hospital has
long been one Of the foremost
mental hospitals in the
United States. From long ex-
perience in mental hospitals
I know that their adminiStra-
ton is often subjected to mis-
understanding as the result
of public misconception. It
would be disastrous If further
ammunition was given to the
latent fears Of the people by
false publicity. For example.
it has been cited in court
that st. ElizabethS does not
meet the minimum standards
of the American Psychiatric
Association. I frankly doubt
If any publicly maintained
hospital could possibly meet
these standards. They were
set up as an ideal, and the
lack Of such conformity does
not, on its face, indicate in
feriority. The public is often
prone to disregard the fact
that one out of every five
people you pass on the street
will some day be a patient in
a mental hospital, by pre-
tending that a hospital or its
doctors are in error. This is
like whistling as you pass a
graveyard.
Undoubtedly st. Elizabeths
has limitations in funds and
personnel and is not up to
the level Of treatment which
its own staff would desire.
With the approval Of Robert
S. Drews, M. D., our national
president, I am offering the
facilities of the Board of
Fellows of our organization
to form the nucleus of a
committee. Our Board of
Fellows includes persons of
national and international
regulations in pSychiatry,
sociology, jurisprudence and
other social sciences. I sug-
geSt that various other or
carnations such as the
Washington Psychiatric As
sociation, the Civil Liberties
Union, the National Urban
League, and the Middle
Atlantic Conference for Cor
rection offer members of
their governing boards to
form a committee. This COM
mittee would have the prime
purpose of investigating the
conditions at st. Elizabeths,
and offering constructive pro-
fessional suggestions. Mem
bers of our Board of Fellows
are willing to serve without
compensation. We feel that
this would be a more con-
Structive move than attempt
ing to quote professional
references out of context.
The journalistic field, court
hearings, and nonprofes-
sional organizations have at
tempted to investigate and
pass Judgment on public
mental hospitals for genera
tions. The results have been
rather pathetic. Let us, for
once, attempt to have people
who speak the language and
understand the problem seek
to make constructive criti-
cism. Their motivation would
be to help solve a problem
rather than protest against
acceptance of mental illness
in the community.
DIR. v. J. DAILY, F. A. A. S. p,
National Vice President,
American Association for
Social Psychiatry.