REAL HELP
Curing the �Incurable� Without Psychiatry
In Imola, Italy, Dr. Giorgio Antonucci developed a non-drug program for treating
�schizophrenia� that achieved much greater success than psychiatry�s dehumanization
and chronic drugging.
Dr. Antonucci firmly believed in the value of human life and that communication,
not enforced incarceration and inhumane physical treatments, could heal even
the seriously disturbed mind. At the Institute of Osservanza (Observance), Dr.
Antonucci treated dozens of so-called schizophrenic women, most of whom had
been continuously strapped to their beds (some for up to 20 years). Straitjackets
were used as well as plastic masks to keep patients from biting. Dr. Antonucci
began to release the women from their confinement, spending many, many hours
each day talking with them and �penetrating their deliriums and anguish.� In
every case, Dr. Antonucci listened to stories of years of desperation and institutional
suffering.
Under Dr. Antonucci�s leadership, all psychiatric �treatments� were abandoned
and some of the most oppressive psychiatric wards were dismantled. He ensured
that patients were treated compassionately, with respect and without the use
of drugs. In fact, under his guidance the ward transformed from the most violent
in the facility to its calmest. After a few months, his �dangerous� patients
were free, walking quietly in the asylum garden. Eventually they were stable
and discharged from the hospital; many were taught how to read and write, and
how to work and care for themselves for the first time in their lives.
Alternative programs also come at a much lower cost to the community. This
and a number of similar programs constitute permanent testimony to the existence
of both genuine answers and hope for those seriously troubled.
Dr. Giorgio Antonucci freed dozens of �incurable� patients with compassion,
communication and respect.
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