Remaking a Mental Health Approach in Belgium

David Mark/Pixabay

Question assumptions. This gem is one of my favorites among those gained in my work about creative thinking and problem-solving.

Why does something have to be that way? Why can’t a tradition carried on for years be changed? What makes that rule right?

These questions take me to Geel, a city of about 41,000 residents in Belgium well-known to history buffs in mental health.

According to Catholic Online, a young girl named Dymphna fled Ireland in the seventh century and settled in Geel, where she used her wealth to build a hospital for people in poverty. A church was erected in her honor in 1349 before she became the saint of mental illness. It became a sanctuary for many throughout the world seeking mental health treatment. Geel became so well known that the church had to be expanded in 1480.

Yet this is where the problem arose. So many pilgrims flocked to Geel in need of mental health assistance that the church couldn’t accommodate them.

Residents of Geel questioned assumptions: Why can’t they help those with mental illness? Why can’t people without any formal training be of assistance?

The stigma of mental illness has caused people to be shunned, discriminated against, and outcast for centuries. That seemed to change, at least in Geel. The community opened its doors to those with mental health disorders, hosting them in their homes.

According to Comer and Comer (2020), “Local residents welcomed these residents into their homes, and many stayed on to form the world’s first ‘colony’ of mental patients.” By the 1930s, about 4,000 people with mental health disorders lived in Geel, amounting to about a quarter of the population (Chen, 2016).

The tradition continues to this day. A feature in The New York Times described Geel as “an emblem of a humane alternative to the neglect or institutionalization of those with mental illness found in other places” (Stevis-Gridneff & Ryckewaert, 2023).

Although progress has been made in the U.S., mental health stigma still exists. A 2019 survey by the American Psychological Association found that 33 percent of participants agreed with the statement, “People with mental health disorders scare me.” Slightly more survey respondents (39 percent) indicated that they would perceive an individual differently if they found out that person had a mental health disorder.

Whether in 1480 or 2024, it is possible that some people in Geel entertained similar prejudices. It’s good to know that the questioning of assumptions prevailed.