The Council of Ministers this week authorized the establishment of the first national committee to deal with issues relating to the support and care for the mentally ill and their families. Among other duties, the committee has been tasked with coordinating with the authorities in charge of treatment and rehabilitative programs for this group of patients. While stating that the establishment of such a committee has been long overdue, experts have stressed that the committee itself will not be able to correct public misconceptions about the mentally ill. Unofficial statistics indicate that there are 30,000 people in the Kingdom suffering from mental illness and that although there are 16 hospitals with 2,953 beds set aside for them besides 11 new hospitals under construction, these patients are still in need of better care. Equally important as increased medical facilities is the need for the public to be enlightened and educated as to the true nature of mental illness so that people will not have stereotyped images of the mentally ill in their minds and will treat them in the same way as they treat patients with physical illnesses. Dealing with the mentally ill as lunatics complicates their condition, increases their psychological suffering and retards their recovery. Many of them suffer a setback when their families refuse to receive them from the hospitals where they have been treated. Such families need to understand that hospital authorities would never discharge a patient unless he had made significant progress and was responding to treatment. People must realize that the rehabilitation of the mentally ill requires them to live with their families so that they can gradually integrate into society. It should also be understood that the refusal of families to accept such patients undermines the treatment program and deprives other needy patients of hospital beds. This problem is evident in Taif Mental Hospital where there are 300 patients who are no longer in need of medical treatment who are occupying beds badly needed by other patients because their families refuse to take them home. These families have deprived the patients of the chance to lead a normal life and to assimilate into society. “These families are depriving patients of social care which is the last stage of the rehabilitation of the mentally ill who have responded to treatment and made substantial progress,” Saeed Al-Zahrani, official spokesman of the Taif Mental Hospital, said. “This refusal of families to accept mentally ill patients also reflects the way that society looks at such patients. Many families fear the social stigma and some people consider mental or psychological disease to be a big crime,” he added. The Taif Mental Hospital is one of the largest specialist hospitals in the Kingdom with 690 beds, provided with recreational facilities and a specialist center for work related treatment, including instruction in carpentry, electricity, electronics, tailoring and painting. Al-Zahrani pointed out that the center develops patients' skills besides engaging them in physical work that helps in absorbing their energies and eventually reduces their mental stress. “The symptoms of most people diagnosed with serious mental illness are relieved by actively participating in individual treatment. In addition to medication, psychological treatment, such as, cognitive therapy, interpersonal therapy, peer support groups and other community therapy are components of a treatment plan that assist with recovery,” he added. He pointed out that mental illness usually strikes individuals in the prime of their lives, often in adolescence and young adulthood. People of all ages are susceptible, but the young are especially vulnerable. He said royal directives have been issued for setting up convalescence homes for patients who have completed treatment programs but are experiencing special social circumstances. However, the Ministry of Social Affairs, he said, has yet to implement these directives. Sahl Bin Ali Nour, Director of Mental Health Hospital in Madina, in diagnosing the obstacles facing mentally ill patients, said that one of the major difficulties they face is that their families refuse to take them home. He said that among the significant problems these patients face is the lack of a post-treatment care program, pointing out that they need to participate in such programs so that they can take their rightful place in society. Nour said that the hospital is looking after 100 patients most of whom have recovered but have nowhere to go as their families and relatives have refused to take them home. He appealed to all people in society to change their attitude towards the mentally ill. There is a need to find suitable job opportunities for them, he pointed out, and to reunite them with their families so that they can make a speedy recovery and be reintegrated into society.
