The Milbank Memorial Fund quarterly. Health and society
-
American and British reformers may act as if reducing the number of beds alone reduces human distress or the incidence and prevalence of psychiatric illness. Deinstitutionalization requires a recognition of changed relationships between patients and staff, and between patients and families. Our two cultures have responded differently to questions of where, by whom, and how to treat their mental patients.
-
The premises underlying our understanding of the nature of mental illness and its treatment are subject to cycles of fashion. Recurring emphasis is too often on structures and too seldom on functions within a system. Publicizing paradigms is no substitute for demonstration of efficacy.