HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Goderich Signal-Star, 1969-08-14, Page 136
THURSDAY,. AUGUST 14,
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From darkness. 10 light
The days of mental
•institutions are gone. Buildings
that once upon .a time housed
people with mental illness and
which today wouldn't be
allowed to house cattle, are
closed..
Instead we _ have bright
modern hospitals of psychiatry
such as •Goderich . Psychiatric
Hospital where'=•corridors gleam
from recent scrubbing and
waxing .and reflect the good
quality paintings that hang on
s the walls.
No more do "inmates"
shuffle along the dank smelling
tunnels of •corridors that were
part and parcel of old institutes,
on their way to the communal
dining hall; the patients are
• served their food in their rooms.
And instead of being locked
behind bars they have free access
to most other areas in the
hospital, not the least used of
which is the industrial therapy
department.
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Therapy of one kind or
another has been long
recognized ,as a way to cure
some of the ills that assail the
minds of people from all walks
of life.
Industrial therapy is a
relatively new idea. It was
started here in the early 1960s
and. today the department is run
like any other financially' sound
business. The workers are
patients. They are paid for their
work. They learn to take part in
things that are themselves a part
of the normal life of the world, a
world. which many of them
retreated from when faced with
problems that appeared to be
insurmountable.
At Goderich Psychiatric
Hospital, and other hospitals like
it, patients are learning these
Rroblems can be overcome —
with help —• and one of the more
pleasant ways is through a type
of therapy that lets them
participate; that lets them regain
a sense of belonging; that gives
them a desire, and often fits
them for a life a new life —.
when they leave the hospital.
The patients who work in the
refinishing section of the
department have been earning a
name for themselves ever since
through
the section started; for the
quality of the work they
produce. The patients in the
sections that make tote bags,
toys and a number of other
items, are likewise well thought
of for their workmanship.
But, of course, isn't the
same patients working there all
the time. They .are moved from
one section to another as they
request or as they become fit
enough and when they are
released, others come to take
their places.
To give credit t� any one
Story and photos by Ron Price
industrial
person would be going out on a
limb, because many are involved
and • 'as Dr. Michael Conlon,
director of the • hospital says,
without the help and enthusiasm
of the staff, nothing could have
been accomplished.
Dr. Conlon himself must be
t
erapy
given credit for getting the show
On the road, so t� speak, soon
'after ' he arrived here from
Britain. A. V. Costello who helps
run the department is a typical
example of the enthusiastic
people Dr. Conlon mentioned.
He speaks of the industrial
therapy as though • it was a living
thing, and, perhaps, to many of
the workers there, itis. It"has a
certain substance; an air 'of
accomplishment about it that is
`hard to define.
Th.e section heads,.
'non -patients who volunteer to
help out, are dedicated to their
work and even 'the patients get
involved to the point of
producing something they take
great pride in.
The people who become
patients are from many walks of
life and have a variety of talents,
as is shown by the photographs
on this page.
The photographs at the top
are of colored sketches done by
a patient and are first class. Fine •
work such as the needle point;
right, is the hobby of another
patient and the results of work
by patients on stuffed toys is,
shown at centre and on the left
and below we have the results of
the work performed in the tote
bag department and in the
furniture refinishing department.
The high quality is obvious.
The upholstery section, the
latest addition to the industrial
therapy department, is reported
to be going very well and it is
most probable it will retch the
status of the jfinishing shop
before, much longer.
The whole thing, has been
brought about by men and
womeh who had the foresight
and courage to break tradition -
. and it does take courage to
break away from traditions, no
matter how bad they may be —
and bringlight into a world that
was formerly only noted for its
darkness.
P
G