When someone thinks of a mental hospital, one of the first things that comes to mind is a macabre building with boarded-up windows, dead trees, and screams echoing down the decrepit hallways. In reality, this isn’t far off from the truth for many mental health care facilities. Over 21.8% of children in America alone struggle with mental health.  The all-too-true stereotype that mental hospitals are nothing but glorified prisons prevents many people from ever stepping foot in one.

Mental health treatment has had a terrifying history since the dawn of time. From electroshock therapy, lobotomies, and religious interpretations, mentally ill individuals have been mistreated, if treated at all. While many of the heinous treatments have been outlawed, one has been allowed to stay since 1808: mental hospitals. Mental institutions have been nothing more than padded prisons for those who struggle with a wide array of issues. Mental hospitals are profitable, and it’s all at the expense of the patients. Institutions in the United States such as North Tampa Behavioral Health have been caught exploiting patients held under their care by keeping them held as long as possible. Mental Hospitals in Washington state have been reported to have safety issues, bad record-keeping, and instances of trying to keep voluntary patients from leaving for the sake of profit. These are just a few examples of the inhumane treatment in mental hospitals. Many reports have been given by outsiders, but the opinion of someone who has actually been a patient at these hospitals can offer a different insight. 

I’ve been to 2 mental hospitals on the East Coast, and both were awful experiences. At the age of 12, I was put into a prison with people who had different issues and needs than me, all while getting the same minimal treatment. The wing I stayed in was severely understaffed and always dirty. Upon being strip-searched, I was forced to give up my clothes and medication for days. Instead, I was put in thin paper scrubs that held onto every bead of sweat and tore at the slightest movement. The therapist I met with did not care about me or my welfare. The mental health check-ins my therapist conducted every other day were always just a simple question and nothing more: do you want to harm yourself or others? If you said yes, nothing more would happen than an extended stay with no additional care. If you said no, then your therapy was done for the day. That was the case for all of the staff, as not a single one of them held any compassion or empathy for the terrified children. I was locked inside throughout the entire stay.  The only glimpse of the outside world was through blurred and barred windows. While the hospital did stop me from harming myself for a week, in the long run, it damaged my mental health beyond repair. A horrible experience and fear of reliving it again can cause people to be silent about their mental state, just like I was. Due to my fear of going back, my emotions boiled over until I ended up in another mental hospital at the age of 14. I was stuck in a wing with other patients aged 13-18, and was once more neglected of any real emotional care. I was treated the same way in the new hospital, despite it being an entirely different institution. The staff still didn’t care, I was never truly treated, and was more of a prisoner than a child who needed help.

Mental health care in the United States is horrible, and throwing mentally ill people into glorified prisons to try and sweep them under the rug makes the problem worse. Malpractice, abuse of power, and exploitation are all too common in mental hospitals. Since the 1800s, mental hospitals have been nothing more than a cruel punishment to those who need mental health care, and if we don’t improve mental health in this country more children will be in fear to voice their struggles until it is too late. No parent wants to bury their child, so why don’t we improve our mental health care system before that becomes the case for more and more families across America?