Some people suffer from mental diseases that need to be cured, or at least treated. There family often faces an alternative : they can either have them treated at home or in hospital. The answer to such an alternative is often linked to the nature of the disease. We will see the advantages and disadvantages of both possibilities.

Most often, it is very hard for the family of a mentally handicaped person to keep her at home. It is indeed a source of arguments, especially if the person is noisy : it sometimes even leads to nervous breakdowns, diorces, etc. In these cases, it is better to treat the mentally handicaped in a hospital or, at least, a specialized establishment. Indeed, it creates an environment where everyone will help, or try helping, the handicaped : nurses, doctors, psychiatrists, etc. It may be a way to determine the causes of the disease and, why not, cure it. Staying at home might create an atmosphere of anxiety and pressure that the handicaped will suffer from : this might even keep him into his disease.

However, some mental diseases, such as autism, are linked to a lack of affection, etc. In many cases, being treated at home will be the only way to help the mentally handicaped : he will feel safe and loved by those he knows. In this case, a psychiatrist will have to come often, maybe everyday, for the treatment. I think a home-treatment is much more demanding (=exigeant) for the family of the handicaped : it has to accept the house to be transformed into a kind of hospital.

To conclude, both ways are possible and it all depends on two things : first, the personnality of the handicaped (will he accept to be separated from his family); second, the family’s ability to handle a handicaped person at home.