“94 Psychiatric Patients in South Africa Died of Negligence, Report Finds”

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The New York Times reports on the findings of a South African government investigation that determined that “94 psychiatric patients died of negligence last year after being moved by the authorities in Gauteng Province to facilities that were likened in some cases to concentration camps.” “Corpses of psychiatric patients were found with head injuries and unexplained bruises. Relatives were not informed of the deaths of their loved ones. The transfers of mentally ill patients were seen as business opportunities.”

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  1. :'( wow… this is super upsetting. Speaks to the empathy-starved power hungry types that do gravitate towards the psychiatric “professional field” though. It is not that hard to be human to someone. I can’t understand how this happens. To just watch someone die of something and not do anything to stop it? I feel that it takes actual effort and purposeful cruelty and neglect for people to be harmed this way. I’m picturing the intense suffering the people who died went through before they died. People who work in psychiatry are some of the most soulless people I have ever met to be honest.

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    • It happens here, too, in the less well-lit corners of every facility, sometimes, or always.

      It happens here, but not with such a horrendous concentration of harm, or out of public view for so long. But dark days may lie ahead, when there are more people in distress than can be cared for by those who are not in distress. (And if they’re not in distress, what’s wrong with them? What you said.)

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