Injustice has a cure
Teaser
How is mental health connected to history? And what can one hospital teach us about it?
In this new podcast miniseries from Partners In Health, doctors, patients and historians in Sierra Leone tell the story of Sierra Leone Psychiatric Teaching Hospital—the oldest psychiatric hospital in sub-Saharan Africa—which marked its 200th anniversary this year.
This miniseries will dive deep into Sierra Leone’s history—including slavery, colonialism and civil war--to explore how the past holds implications for mental health. Sierra Leone Psychiatric Teaching Hospital—once an impoverished facility that, due to lack of resources, used chains to keep patients from harming themselves and others—tells a story of both trauma and transformation: how the past never fully leaves, but can inform our present and future.
Subscribe to Unchain and get ready for the first episode to drop.
Full Transcript:
Unchain - Teaser
In this new podcast miniseries from Partners In Health, doctors, patients and historians in Sierra Leone tell the story of Sierra Leone Psychiatric Teaching Hospital—the oldest psychiatric hospital in sub-Saharan Africa—which marked its 200th anniversary this year.
Jon Lascher: I'm Jon Lascher, Executive Director for Partners in Health in Sierra Leone. Today, October 10th, 2020 is World Mental Health Day, a day to celebrate the strides made in mental health care across the globe, and to mobilize around all that's left to do in pursuit of mental health care for all. I can think of no better place to mark this day than where I'm sitting, the oldest psychiatric hospital in Sub-Saharan Africa. To be more specific, I'm at Sierra Leone Psychiatric Teaching Hospital, or what was formally known as Kissy Mental Hospital. It's in Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone.
(sounds of Freetown)
Today I'm excited to tell you about our new podcast mini series, "Unchain," which will take you inside this historic and recently transformed hospital. We'll talk about the connections between history and mental healthcare in Sierra Leone, one of the most exploited countries in the world.
Dr. Ismail Rashid: Since the colonial condition is a nervous condition that is colonialism, just like the process of enslavement and slavery, creates conditions of nervousness and trauma in people who are colonized.
(gentle music)
Jon Lascher: We'll examine how the woefully under-resourced 200-year-old Kissy Mental Hospital, long feared by people across Sierra Leone.
Anneiru Braima: It was awful. It was not fit for human accommodation to say the least.
Jon Lascher: Grew into a now well-respected psychiatric teaching hospital.
Alpha Sesay: What people are saying about this facility is far better for now, and I believe for now, Sierra Leone Psychiatric Teaching Hospital is one of the best hospital in our country.
Jon Lascher: We'll also introduce you to staff working at the hospital, caring for people at the margins of society.
Julianna Showers: We tell them that we love them, we appreciate them. They'll not feel that they are neglected. Yes, we don't neglect them. We always welcome them warmly.
Jon Lascher: And we'll introduce you to patients who received care in Kissy and are now fighting to de-stigmatize mental health conditions.
Adama Kamala: Don't call this Crazy Yard, it's a psychiatric home. Stop calling it Crazy Yard, because it has a bad connotation on the people that are here. Because when you leave here, it will be difficult for you to integrate into society because of the notion of people about this place.
Jon Lascher: Sierra Leone Psychiatric Teaching Hospital, its patients and its staff have witnessed the first years following the end of the Atlantic slave trade and never shut during British colonial rule.
It was standing during Sierra Leone's independence and its doors remained open during the decade-long civil war.
Staff treated patients throughout the Ebola epidemic, and now they continue to welcome those living with mental health conditions, despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
There's a lot of ground to cover over the hospital's 200 year history.
Join us all month by following "Unchain" on Spotify, subscribing on Apple podcasts and Google podcasts, or finding us on YouTube under Partners in Health. And continue to learn and explore more stories from Sierra Leone and PIH by visiting PIH.org. Look for us at Partners in Health on Instagram or PIH on Twitter, and DM us your comments or questions.
Happy World Mental Health Day.