The Town Where The Mentally Ill Get A Warm Welcome

“The Town Where The Mentally Ill Get A Warm Welcome,” is the title of an article written by, Mike Jay.  It makes me think though.  Shouldn’t every town welcome the mentally ill?  Shouldn’t every person welcome the mentally ill?  To me, there shouldn’t be one town in specific that only welcomes the mentally ill.  These people are just like everyone else and they shouldn’t be treated differently just because they are mentally ill.  They didn’t choose to be how they are, but rather they usually were born like that or went through a traumatic incident.  That could’ve happened to anyone so no one should be discriminated against for it.  People should be helping them through their hard times or disabilities that they have.  This is the case for a town in Belgium called Geel.  Here they help, welcome, and encourage those that are mentally ill to come to the town and get better.  In Geel, the words ‘mentally ill’, ‘psychiatric’, and ‘patient’ are never used.  Rather, the words ‘special’ or possibly ‘different’ are used instead.  These words give a more positive outlook on these people, instead of looking down on them.  Usually just the word ‘boarder’ is used to describe the people that live there.  This characterizes them by their social condition rather than their mental condition.

Geel is a town where it doesn’t matter what a person’s diagnosis is, but they go there because they can’t cope with what is wrong on their own and they also don’t have anyone to look after them.  In this town a boarder is treated just like they are part of the family.  They are “involved in everything, and particularly encouraged to form a strong bond with the children, a relationship that is seen as beneficial to both parties”.  These families provide the boarders with a normal life to help them cope with what is wrong, rather than stuck inside a hospital.  I feel that this is a positive way to help someone because it shows them that they are just like everyone else.  In other places where people are placed in hospitals with white, plain walls dressed in the same clothes, of course they are going to feel different and not be able to get better.  The hospitals in Geel are seen as a punishment.  By being in Geel, they are living normal lives just like everyone else dealing with their own problems.  No one there has to say what is exactly wrong with them so no one is judging them on their exact condition.  They are getting “treatment” by living life like everyone else.

By forming positive relationships, it’s helping both the boarders and the host families.  It’s helping the boarders to help them be okay with themselves and their problems, but it also helps the host families show that it’s okay to be ‘different’.  Different doesn’t always mean bad.  The host families are showing their children never to judge anyone, but rather to help them when they are in need.