As anyone who was born before about 1975 and/or studied in the mental health field will find this all too familiar and heartbreaking to view- unfortunately our family has both aspects; born in '66 and a practicing psychologist for over three decades with a specialization in childhood trauma this series is terrifying.
We so easily forget how far we've come where mental health is concerned- the familiar rallying cry I hear these days is 'we need to bring back asylums!', but anyone younger than around 35 has no idea how horrific these facilities were. The conditions were absolutely horrific- often employed people who could have easily been patients, filth and grime covered everything, the permeating smell of urine/feces, overcrowding, people with things like Down Syndrome housed with schizophrenics, etc., and it's just impossible to describe how awful these places were. And as deplorable as it sounds, this was just the thinking and long-held belief that this was the best place for those with abnormal conditions or birth defects. But with the rampant conditions of abuse and/or neglect, in the 80s Reagan said 'nope, the federal government should not and cannot oversee this. Each state needs to handle its own population and care for those who are incapable of self care', and most states subsequently began closing them down with little to no alternative for parents/families. Eventually communities began creating somewhat viable alternatives for people with disabilities like Downs, Autism, CF (typically didn't survive childhood) etc., and those with things classified as dementia, melancholia, hysteria, could be held indefinitely. So it's no wonder that the family stood on business (so to speak) and refused permanent residency in an insane asylum.
What we now know are genetic traits and you are predisposed to being a schizophrenic, and in being one, you are incredibly likely to pass on to any offspring you may parent, is leaps and bounds ahead of even fifty years ago. When things like electroshock therapies, lobotomies (through the orbital into the brain) and awful medications like lithium (largely over-prescribed), metrazol (they honestly believed seizures would cure the 'insane'), blood letting, etc were finally done away with and useful medications began to come online, we began to see society become more comfortable caring for and living with those who suffer things like schizophrenia. But there's still so much we don't know/understand. Like how a patient who is progressing well with their current medication can suddenly begin relapsing, or medications that work very well can become ineffective and the psychosis can slowly seep back in. And even when their caregivers see it start to slip away, it's often increasingly difficult to convince the patient of the regression and get them in to their doctor for analysis.
I'm quite sure there's immeasurable damage done to these siblings by the behavior of their siblings (my heart absolutely breaks for Mary) and more that would be done today so mom wasn't shouldered with the complete care of her sons, but she did what she did because that's literally all that existed. She did a mostly good job of trying to care for them, and housing them in asylums may have been better for the family as a whole, but what's done is done and I sincerely hope these remaining children have solid resources that are employed regularly to help them cope with the residual trauma they're likely suffering.
A very well done documentary that shows us how far we've come and how far we have yet to go- if you or someone you love shows even the slightest symptoms, please seek help. Most often, the symptoms begin slowly and in adolescence, and exacerbate in the teens, spiraling from there. The key is to catch on before spiraling begins, and helping each other rather than ostracizing families.
