Editing Geel (section)

==A model of psychiatric care==
Geel is well known for the early adoption of de-institutionalization in psychiatric care.<ref>Roosens, Eugeen. ''Mental patients in town life: Geel, Europe's first therapeutic community''. Beverly Hills, Sage Publications, 1979. {{ISBN|0-8039-1330-3}} - {{ISBN|0-8039-1331-1}}</ref><ref> "A Lunatic Village," by Maurice E. Fox. Coronet, November 1936 </ref> This practice is based on the positive effects that placement in a host family gives the patient, most importantly access to family life that would otherwise have been denied. The legendary 7th-century Saint [[Dymphna]], who had fled to the Geel area from Ireland, is usually credited with this type of care. The earliest Geel infirmary and the model where patients go into town, interact with the community during the day, and return to the hospital at night to sleep, date from the 13th century.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Goldstein |first1=Jackie L. |last2=Godemont |first2=Marc M.L. |date=October 2003 |title=The legend and lessons of Geel: A 1500-year-old legend, a 21st century model |journal=Community Mental Health Journal |volume=39 |issue=5 |pages=441–458 |pmid=14635986 |doi=10.1023/A:1025813003347 |s2cid=26632282 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/21/world/europe/belgium-geel-psychiatric-care.html|title=A Radical Experiment in Mental Health Care, Tested Over Centuries|first1=Matina|last1=Stevis-Gridneff|first2=Koba|last2=Ryckewaert|first3=Ilvy|last3=Njiokiktjien|date=21 April 2023|via=NYTimes.com}}</ref>

Originally, this practice was religiously motivated and organized by a [[Chapter (religion)|chapter]] of [[canon (priest)|canons]], attached to the church of Saint Dymphna. By the 18th century, however, the placement of patients was mostly done directly, without the intervention of the canons. The number of patients grew in proportion to the growing city’s reputation abroad and the economic benefits flowing to the city provided further motivation to the inhabitants. Attracted by the gentle care of patients, [[Vincent van Gogh]]'s father considered sending his famous son to Geel in 1880.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Naifeh |first1=Steven |last2=Smith |first2=Gregory White |title=Van Gogh: The Life |date=2011 |publisher=Random House |location=New York |isbn=978-0-375-50748-9 |page=209}}</ref> The high point came in 1938, with a total of 3,736 placed patients, compared with only 700 a hundred years earlier.

This novel type of psychiatric care was evaluated by various other institutions around the world (see for instance [[Eastern State Hospital (Virginia)|Eastern State Hospital]] in Virginia), but often seen as too revolutionary to implement. It is only in the early 20th century that the idea of deinstitutionalization was adopted more widely elsewhere. Today, a modern psychiatric centre stands on the place of the old infirmary, and close to 500 patients are still placed with inhabitants.

The fact that people with mental illness are living with relatively non-judgmental (formerly) strangers and not with family members has been cited as a partial explanation of the success of this model, because it creates an environment that avoids emotional over-involvement, critical comments, and hostility (measured collectively in psychiatry as "[[expressed emotion]]").<ref name="Invisibilia">[https://www.npr.org/2016/07/01/483856025/read-the-transcript The Problem with the Solution (transcript)] - [[Invisibilia]] podcast, 1 July 2016</ref> Another aspect cited as helpful is that people with mental illness are allowed to live their lives relatively freely, without being labeled as "broken" or "[[Recovery model|in recovery]]".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=van Bilsen |first1=Henck P. J. G. |title=Lessons to be learned from the oldest community psychiatric service in the world: Geel in Belgium |journal=BJPsych Bulletin |date=2016 |volume=40 |issue=4 |pages=207–211 |doi=10.1192/pb.bp.115.051631 |pmid=27512591 |pmc=4967781 }}</ref>