“The Problem with the Solution,” — a podcast in a series by NPR under the title Invisibilia— discusses the treatment of people with mental illnesses in the United States compared to the treatment of mental illness patients abroad. The podcast follows the story of a young woman named Ellen Baxter, whose own mother was herself mentally-ill. American medicine seemed to follow an over-medication pattern when it came to treating mental illness— if the medication seemed to take symptoms of mental illness away, it took any sign of a unique personality away with them. Ellen had had enough of this ineffective treatment, and so set out on a path to revolutionize the world of American mental-health treatment.

Ellen searched for any miniscule variation in the treatment of people with mental illnesses. She seemed to be unsuccessful, until she discovered the town of Geel in Belgium. In Geel, it was (and is) common practice for families to take in people with mental illnesses as “boarders.” The boarders live with the families for many years, as they are completely accepted into everyday life. Mental illness patients in Geel are viewed not as patients, but as fully-functioning ordinary members of society.  In Geel, mental illness is treated as just a part of who a person is— it is not treated or cured, but rather embraced. People with mental illness thrive in this society, as they are not institutionalized and heavily-drugged, but instead allowed to live life and be themselves. The families living in Geel do not view mentally-ill people as an anomaly, but rather as a simple part of daily life.

This begs the question: As a society, how do we define a problem? How do we decide what needs and does not need fixing? Normality is a subjective concept, yet we treat it as an objective one. There is a basic normal standard by which we live, and as soon as someone strays away from that norm, we immediately rush in with our solutions and help. Is our help really necessary? Mentally-ill people in Geel are far more successful as humans living their best lives than mentally-ill people in America. Our definition of normality and what we consider a problem is important because this has the potential to either deeply hurt or largely help members of our society.

Works Cited

Rosin, Hannah. “The Problem with the Solution.” Invisibilia, NPR, 2016.