Mobile Phones Taking Over The Asylum
from the too-much-connectivity dept
Interesting article by the head of a psychiatric institute in New York City discussing whether or not patients should be allowed to have mobile phones. They allowed them - but the chargers had to be kept behind the nurses' station (so patients couldn't use the cords to hang themselves). While there were benefits to letting patients connect with the outside world - it also took away some element of the "asylum": they no longer seemed away from everything. Eventually, though, they decided to stop allowing mobile phones for a very different reason: all of the annoying ringtones became too much for the nurses to deal with. They have no problem with internet connections to the outside world. Patients can bring in laptops and email and IM away. However, the only people allowed to use mobile phones are those looking for jobs, who aren't thrilled about potential employers calling them on the psychiatric institute's main line.
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
from experience
People are in there because they are unstable or need help dealing with their lives. The last thing they need to do is surf the net, email, or make outside phone calls. I could easily see this leading to stalking, harassment, or an inability to get some distance from your life. That is what people are really there for. Only if there is a good reason should they be allowed to use a phone or laptop.
A patient really needs to attend therapy sessions to get their head straight and life back on track.
I treasure the time I have spent in psych wards as it has given me great insight into my life. I just don't think gaining this insight would be possible if doing the daily net surfing bullshitting with friends routine.
[ link to this | view in thread ]