Where Mental Asylums Live On

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In America, asylums are not as common as they once were because they’ve been cleared out in favor of community-based care for the disabled. However, internationally, it appears that asylums are a very common way of dealing with disabled people. Asylums are written off as dark places of abuse and neglect and have a terrible reputation because they are not very well maintained. The community based care systems in America, though, have not developed quickly enough to keep mentally disabled people off the streets and out of jail. It makes one wonder what should be done in order to regulate the mentally disabled and give them an equal opportunity to experience life. In Guatemala, where asylums are common, the government is working on legislature that will assist the disabled in living in community based care facilities and have more patient support in hospitals in order to encourage positive treatment of these people. If this succeeds, hopefully, more nations will follow their lead and realize that the asylum isn’t the only way to deal with mentally disabled people.