Christian state-run mental hospital

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In the "those books are Satanic!" section of Randi's latest commentary, there's a couple of sentences that disturb me even more than the know-it-all front desk attendant thinking Demon-Haunted World was Satanic. It was these:

[ ... ] the Memphis Mental Health Institute, a bona fide asylum. Incidentally, this is a state-run facility that actively and forcefully pushes xtianity on people and gives Bibles to each patient.
It's state-run, but it pushes Christianity on its patients?

Sounds like a good case for the ACLU. I doubt that such a practice in a government-sponsored institution could pass the muster of the Establishment Clause.
 
Hi, don't mind me. just collecting data.
Memphis Mental Health Institute
865 Poplar Avenue
Memphis, TN 38105-4626
(901) 524-1201

Hospital type: Psychiatric
Operated by: State
Total beds: 98

Administrator: Mr. Lawrence Ventura, Chief Executive Officer
Parent system: No system affiliation
Key services: Not reported
Selected accreditations/memberships:
Accredited, Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations (JCAHO)

Data provided by the American Hospital Association. Last updated August 2005.
Download hospital data as a spreadsheet, map, or chart at www.ahadata.com.

Activity (7/1/2002–7/1/2003)

Admissions: 1,619
Inpatient surgeries: 0
Outpatient visits: 0
Outpatient surgeries: 0
Emergency room visits: 0
Births: Not reported

Number of beds: 98

Staffing (employed, on payroll)

Registered nurses
Full-time: 39
Part-time: 16

Licensed practical nurses
Full-time: 8
Part-time: 0

Total facility personnel
Full-time: 312
Part-time: 39

http://www.usnews.com/usnews/health/hospitals/directory/numbers_6520830.htm
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/health/hospitals/directory/service_6520830.htm
http://www.usnews.com/usnews/health/hospitals/directory/glance_6520830.htm

GUIDED MEDITATIONS with Lucy Vinturella, Ph.D. There are many ways to pray. Guided meditations is one of those ways. It is a very good way to pray, especially for those who have hyperactive minds. Guided meditations take seriously the influence of memory and imagination in drawing us into the Presence of God in the Word. The "guided" aspect of this form of prayer acts as "nudges" or "prompts" that help us make room for the Word of God in our lives. The themes of the guided meditations will be based on the Sunday Scripture readings. Lucy Vinturella has been a staff psychologist at Memphis Mental Health Institute since 1989 and is a Sister of St. Joseph at the House of the Lord Spiritual Center.
http://www.calvaryjc.com/chron_032600.html

...Throughout this program we have said that no evidence confirms that attention problems are the product of a disease or malfunction of the brain. If you are still wondering how your youngster could have gotten this way, we'll review the ten basic parenting missteps that contribute to a child's becoming IA or HM; we'll also review the solutions we've discussed.

...David B. Stein received his bachelor's degree from the City University of New York, Brooklyn College, and his master's and doctoral degrees from Virginia Commonwealth University. There he served as the university's president of Psi Chi - the national honour society for psychology. He completed his residency at the University of Mississippi Medical Center.

Stein is associate professor of psychology at Longwood College, which is part of the Virginia state college system. He has been an educator, writer, speaker, and practitioner for over 25 years and has taught at the elementary, intermediate, college, and graduate school levels. He is a former clinical assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of Tennessee Center for the Health Sciences. His clinical experiences include being a staff psychologist at the Memphis Mental Health Institute, director of psychological services at a home for adolescents, a staff psychologist at mental health centres, and owner and director of a private psychology treatment centre in Memphis.
http://www.alecgore.com/CSP/CSP13.html

Among providers listed on state of Tennessee official website:
http://www.state.tn.us/youth/dcsinfo/directory/provider.htm
AGAPE
4555 Trousdale Drive

Agape Child and Family Services, Inc.
111 Racine Street

Associated Catholic Charities of the Diocese
of Memphis, Inc

Associated Catholic Charities
of East TN, Inc.

Bethany Christian Services
400 S. Germantown Road

Bethel Bible Village
3001 Hamill Road

Catholic Charities of Tennessee, Inc.
30 White Bridge Road

Catholic Charities/Sophia's House
1325 Jefferson

Christian Children's Homes of TN
2600 State Line Road

Covenant Home
8701 Highway 79 N

East Tennessee Christian Home
517 Allen Avenue

Free Will Baptist Family Ministries, Inc.
90 Stanley Lane
(I got bored at the 'f''s)

I am a little heartened that someone like Mr Randi got a first hand view at the state of much of the mental health care in the US. Sorry about his friend. Maybe he will learn to pray in more creative ways while in treatment though.
 
Which brings up an interesting question.

If, for whatever reason, you get put into one of these places and you deny the existence of any god(s), does this automatically mean you must be insane, (to them), and you'll be kept there until you "admit" that their version of god exists?
 
Which brings up an interesting question.

If, for whatever reason, you get put into one of these places and you deny the existence of any god(s), does this automatically mean you must be insane, (to them), and you'll be kept there until you "admit" that their version of god exists?

I doubt it. Just a 'gut feeling', though.

I have, however, become recently intrigued by the practice of labyrinths as a form of meditation - the most recent one I viewed was at a monastery in southern NSW for a Christian retreat although they're often found in Buddhist meditations and Middle eastern cultures? Apparently they're catching on in prisons too. I'll have to dig the book out I have on them. Perhaps that sort of method may be more open than pushing a certain line of faith to achieve a meditative state.
 
The most important question to me is this part: "is currently confined to the Memphis Mental Health Institute". By "confined", does he mean "involuntarily committed"? If someone is being forced to be somewhere, it doesn't matter whether it's private or not, it should be religion neutral. If the government forces someone to be someplace that censors books, then it'a the same as if the government is censoring books. And although screaming at the attendent wasn't a smart move, the security guard putting his hand on him is technically assault. Assuming that things are as presented, the attendents are basically stealing these books (they were given to the mental patient, therefore they belong to him, yet the staff kept them from him- ergo, theft). He should call the police.
 
Which brings up an interesting question.

If, for whatever reason, you get put into one of these places and you deny the existence of any god(s), does this automatically mean you must be insane, (to them), and you'll be kept there until you "admit" that their version of god exists?

Speaking from personal experience, I just shut the hell up and gave them what I knew they wanted so I could get away from the schizophrenics, the alcholics, and the strangers and back to my family so I could recover. If I thought they wanted to hear me embrace Jesus as my savoir and guide through this rough time, I'd have said it.

Yes. Yes, I am a bad agnostic. I don't care. The absolute crap of this place and its staff was just... erg. And I don't think it was faith-based either, but if it was, I would have gone through the damn motions to get out also. I am a very, very bad agnostic.

As an aside, a, "voluntary," commitment, and I use the word, "voluntary," very loosely, is/was three days minimum in MA and "involuntary," once again, used very loosely, is/was eleven days.
 
I, too, was confused about a state run facility pushing a religion. But I was also confused about Randi insinuating that it was xian beliefs that "banned" his books. If that were the case, then why not ban the Hawkins book?

It seems simple, at least to me, that the facility was simply judging a book by its cover--or more precisely the title on the cover. Don't allow books about "beliving weird things" and "demon hauntings" into an asylum.

If the decision was motivated by conformance to Christian principals, I would think the selected books to be banned would have been different. The only explainantion for the selected books seems to be their title.

ETA: After reading the most recent commentary, I guess someone else had the same idea.
 
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First of all, Randi was quoting a story someone sent him; it wasn't his books. Which is why I said "assuming things are as presented".

Secondly, your argument seems to be "there is no logical reason for Christians to do this, therefore Christianity wasn't behind this." Do you really not see the flaw in that logic?
 
Among providers listed on state of Tennessee official website:
http://www.state.tn.us/youth/dcsinfo/directory/provider.htm

[ ... ]

(I got bored at the 'f''s)
Are those insitutions all State-run?

I'm guessing that the State of Tennessee has little or nothing to do with the Providers listed on that page; they're just posting a list of known, registered children's services providers, including the privately-run ones.
 
Heh, I used to work across the street from MMHI and also transpoted a few patients there. There are several impatient facilities for psych in Shelby County. If you had insurance you went to one of the "private" facilities. On Medicaid (TennCare) you went to MMHI. The one crisis holding facility was the Psych ER at The Med, two blocks away, and they could only hold for 24 hours.

Granted I was there about 10 yars ago and things may have changed some, but I do remember that while a facility may be 'state run' the tone is set by staff and Tennessee is a very religious area.


One more thing to note is that in any psych facility unless a patient presents an acute threat of harm to self or others they are placed in an open ward. There is very little in the way of privacy, if any, including places to secure personal belongings. Add in the fact that at any given time you may have various individuals claimimg to be deities, various biblical personages, etc and any thing that might set off one of these patients is going to be banned. This is not necessarily because the staff are a bunch of fundies but to prevent other patients from destroying those books or attacking an individual reading them. These patients often cannot be rationalized with and explained that despite what the cover says it's actually a book on skeptical thinking.


Most inpatient facilities will provide a list of acceptable and/or unacceptable items patients may have. Any exceptions are usually handled on a case by case basis by the attending doc and the administrator.


Just offering another POV.





Boo
 
Why not let the state run the religious mental hospital? Clearly, the patients run the state...
 

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