Neglected and Stigmatized, Mentally-ill Seek a Shelter
Over 25 discharged patients stranded outside Madinah hospital
MADINAH Several health specialists in Madinah have urged authorities to establish a home for the mentally-ill who have been abandoned by their families.
They underlined the need for providing asylum and protection to patients who were discharged from the local mental health hospital but have nowhere to go.
The hospital is not in a position to readmit them due to a lack of space, according to a report in Al-Madinah newspaper.
Dr. Ahmad Hafez, Director of Madinah Mental Health Hospital, said over 25 patients are stranded outside the hospital compound after being ignored by their families.
"These patients are receiving neither rehabilitation nor treatment required outside the hospital. The shortage of beds puts the hospital management in a helpless situation," he said.
According to Dr. Hafez, these patients are rejected by both their families and members of society after completion of their treatment.
"There are at least 60 mental patients who were discharged after completing their treatment at the hospital. Even though they were asked to leave the hospital, their relatives have so far not turned up to accept them because they don't want to live with them or afraid of them. As for the hospital, its 100 beds are full up and is not in a position to accommodate more patients," he said.
Dr. Hafez said that there is no need for hospitalization for minor mental illnesses such as anxiety and depression. Such patients can have medicines and treatment from outpatient clinics.
"Only those patients who suffer from acute mental disorders such as hypomania, schizophrenia and severe depression require hospitalization," he said.
Dr. Hafez said that there is no convalescence center for mentally-ill in Madinah.
"When the hospital's shifting to a new building is over, the present hospital building can be transformed into a convalescence and rehabilitation center," he added.
Sami Ibrahim Sayyidi, community specialist at the hospital, said the st randed mental patients need special care.
"We have to extend them all types of services such as mental health care, social care, medical and nursing care and recreational facilities. We have to strive to return them to normal life and rehabilitate them in a way fully integrating into society," he said.
Referring to the problems faced by these people, Sayyidi said that these included pressures of social life, rejection by society, and refusal of their families to embrace and take care of them and extend them necessary assistance. Many people usually send those who have mental disorders to mental health hospitals in the absence of mental care and rehabilitation centers, he pointed out.
There are many patients who have been receiving treatment at the hospital for several years. A patient's mother told Al-Madinah that her son was admitted to the hospital nearly 28 years ago.
"After receiving treatment for sometime, we used to take him home believing that he could live with his family members in a normal way. But many times, he became violent and, therefore, we were forced to take him back to the hospital again," she said.
The woman said that her son refused to take medicines while he was at home.
He became violent even at the hospital and once he beat his mother vterribly until he left her bleeding from her head.
Doctors at the hospital said that there were occasions when this patient tried to kill one inmate and made an attempt to kill himself.
The mother of another patient said: "My son has been staying at the hospital for 20 years. It is very difficult to take him home and live with him because of his violent nature," she said.
She urged the minister of health to establish a mental health care center in Madinah as soon as possible.
Saudi Gazette
