Things in living memory which seem very anachronistic now

[ChiefPlanner]

Along with workhouses - old age peoples home replaced some , along with some state benefits and pensions - partly due to David Lloyd George of course (and others)

 

[GusB]

The days when most communities knew exactly where the onetime variously termed "lunatic asylum" or "mental hospital" used to be located for their geographical area. As revealed in contemporary television programmes such as "Who Do You Think You Are?" many of the long-term residents (or "inmates" as they were described) of such establishments had fairly mild conditions of one sort or another and should not have been incarcerated. Nowadays secure units are relatively few and far between.

The stigma attached to patients of these establishments (and their families) was enormous, even when I was at school in the 80s. One particular kid in my class asked me in a very low voice if it was true that my mother had been in my local psychiatric hospital; today's answer would have been "yes, so what?" but the idea that such information could become widely known was terrifying.

The hospital was demolished as part of the redevelopment of the attached general hospital and provision reduced to a single ward. While I'm glad that we're a bit more aware of mental illness these days, I do wonder if shutting the doors on so many places was such a good idea.