The Asylum Issue

Asylum – “an institution for the care of the destitute or sick, and especially the insane.” The idea of “asylum” and the reality of asylums in the history of care for individuals with mental illness, are not exactly in sync – and definitely not without controversy. But over the past several decades the concept of institutions as the primary place of care for these individuals has fallen out of favor socially, clinically, and legally.

So there was no small degree of surprise when an article by Dominic A. Sisti, Ph.D., Andrea G. Segal, MS and Ezekiel J. Emanuel, MD . . .