This is the continuation to last year's project at the same Bulgarian psychiatry ward ("A Dark Room.") Despite its challenging conditions -- lack of vermin control, security personnel, mental stimulation for patients, consistent medical treatment, and basic amenities, such as bed sheets and dining utensils -- the majority of patients return to the institution for at least a second and a third visit. Many women describe an environment of physical abuse at their real home makes the...
more »This is the continuation to last year's project at the same Bulgarian psychiatry ward ("A Dark Room.") Despite its challenging conditions -- lack of vermin control, security personnel, mental stimulation for patients, consistent medical treatment, and basic amenities, such as bed sheets and dining utensils -- the majority of patients return to the institution for at least a second and a third visit. Many women describe an environment of physical abuse at their real home makes the hospital preferable; and the rest of the patients share that a heavy stigma against mental illness common to the country caused them to lose family, friends and the ability to be hired for work. Thus, most of the hospital's patients sacrifice physical comfort for a relative mental peace of mind -- that of being around doctors and patients who have become their second family -- at the hospital, now their second home.
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