The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

EVERY DAY 1500 FUTURES ARE AT STAKE IN WHITBY ONTARIO HOSPITAL JOHN FRY of The Oshawa Times Staff psychosis are just words to most of us. Like pneumonia and pleurisy, they connote sick- Neurosis and ness in varying degrees. But, unlike their physical counterparts, these mental maladies traditionally have a mystical quality devoid of dignity. This mystical qual- ity is receding as ignorance slowly subsides. To Dr. Harold Weber, superintendent of the On- tario Hospital at Whitby, mental illness is 1,500 men SURROUNDED BY drift- wood this patient coaxes the birth of a mythical bird or fish from a twisted root, As well as serving as occupa- therapy, the work shop makes life more interesting for male patients and women who've buckled under the stress of daily living. They include those who have repeatedly crossed anxiety's threshold; women who break down from fear of conception after a multi- plicity of pregnancies; men who withdraw from the eco- nomic demands of competi- tive living; and other indi- viduals whose anxiety forces them to ostracize them- selves from what to them is an apparently hostile so- ciéty, "In most instances our pa- tients are admitted directly wood- able at Whitby. They gain valu- gratification smoothing and polishing in- teresting pieces of wood and from the family through a physician," said Dr. Weber. "We do, however, get the failures from other psychi- atric units that do not have our facilities," he added. Some general hospitals with psychiatric wings send about three per cent of their patients for further treat- ment to hospitals like Whitby. SUFFER PS SHOSIS About two-thirds of the hospital's population (766 men and 737 women) suffer from psychosis, extreme from versation pieces. transforming them into glit- tering lamp stands and con- MRS. VIOLA LYNDE RN, centre, and Mrs. Adeline Rich RN, hold a_ patient while Dr. Harold Weber ad- ministers shock treatments, In spite of marked advances in drug research and appli- cation shock treatments are suif the most effective means of combatting de- pression, said Dr. Weber. A small electric current acts as an instantaneous anes- thetic which helps forget their people problems It has a tonic effect as well, he said, so that some of the mental illness, while the rest are afflicted with less severe neuroses, Dr. Weber said approxi- mately 80 per cent of the hospital's patients are dis- charged after a year and more can be sent home after 30 days. : The recent development of "specific" drugs, which re- lieve a patient's stresses without side effects and earlier treatment of emo- tional disorders, is the rea- son for better results, ex- plained Dr. Weber. Although there is still a stigma attached to mental illness, he said, it has less- ened considerably. 600-ACRE COMPLEX Built before the First World War to accommodate Toronto patients, the 600- acre Whitby complex has operated continuously as a mental hospital since 1920 Intended to complement treatment: facilities at To- ronto's 999 Queen st., the buildings were taken over by the military during the war, The buildings are symmet- rically grouped in a wedge pattern -- one side for men and the other for women. The general appearance is that of a wooded village with pink tiled roofs, cream stucco walls and quiet ave- nues. The administration build- ing is at the apex and the reception area, workshops, infirmaries and living quar- ters spread out away from the Lake. COTTAGE STYLE Dr. Weber said this "cot- tage style' design gives pa- tients an environment simi- lar to the outside world to make re-adjustment as sim- ple as possible, Sixteen, two-storey cot- tages, each capable of hous- ing 55 patients, with bed- rooms upstairs, living and recreational quarters down- stairs, are grouped near central kitchens in separate buildings. "It's nice to walk to breakfast in the summer, but sometimes it's not so nice in the winter," said Dr. Weber, chuckling. He said there is no great- er proportion of patients from urban areas compared with rural districts and there doesn't appear fo be a relative increase in mental illness generally. Shock treatment is still the most effective treatment for depression, he said. A small, brief, electric current acts as an instantaneous an- esthetic which helps people forget their problems. It has a tonic effect as well, said Dr, Weber, so that some of the agony of depression doesn't return. Maintenance doses of i] agony of depression doesn't return by Bruce Jones drugs are used to-help out- patients continue their re- adjustment. Individual and group therapy complement treatment by electric. shock and drugs. UNDERSTANDING A psychiatrist helps the patient investigate and un- derstand his problems so he can deal with them, in the individual therapy tech- nique. In group therapy, spon- taneous discussion by sev- eral patients can accom- plish the same purpose. Here, the doctor adopts a secondary role. Patients find relaxation and profit in occupational therapy programs. Men spend several hours each day in a woodwork shop turning out wooden salad bowls on lathes or working pieces of drift-wood into coffee table bases, lamp stands, or simply conversa- tion pieces. These are marketed by the Kiwanis Club and at oc- cupational therapy sales in the hospital three times a year. Russell Van Horne, chief attendant in the men's sec- tion said patients are taken to Haliburton twice a year to pick up drift-wood for their projects. INDUSTRY CO-OPERATES Industry co-operates with the hospital by paying pa- tients for doing "nuisance jobs"'. General Motors, for ex- ample, delivers sweepings, nuts, bolts, fastenings and fittings, to the hospital for sorting. "The patients are paid by the pound," said Mr, Van Horne. "'We get two or three tons at a time." The money ts divided equally among patients, Women are given instruc- tion in typing and dress- making and can relax with weaving and sketching. The nursing school-resi- dence, opened two. years 'ago, is the newest building at the hospital. Three train- ing programs are conduct- ed. One for Whitby's own nursing staff, one for affil- jate nurses and one for Whit- by aides and attendants, NURSES TRAINED The hospital's own nurses devote most of their three- year course to psychiatric studies while affiliate nurses, from general hospi- tals in the area, who re- ceive psychiatric training at Whitby, concentrate on med- ical and surgical techniques. Every aide and attendant at the hospital must pass an eight - month, in - service- training course, said Mrs. Ellen Zivkovic, senior in- structor. in charge of under- graduate instruction. The modern teaching facil- ities at the school, increased ground privileges and week- end leaves by patients made possible by medical re- search, promise steady gains in the battle against mental illness. Ghe Oshawa Cimes OSHAWA, ONTARIO, SATURDAY, MAY 15, 1965 : ; Times Photos 7 INDUSTRY with the hospital by paying patients for doing '"'nuisance General Motors de- NURSE MICHEAL McCALLUM IS SKETCHED BY PATIENT livers bolts, co-operates sorting. tings) to sweepings fastenings Here, the hospital for (nuts, and fit- a_ patient sorts studs, first by shape and then by thread, 'The patients are paid by the pound and the money is cial, equally divided among them," said a hospital offi-