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Leros can be everywhere. Leros: a beautiful Greek island of the Dodecanese Complex, in the Southern Aegean Sea. 171 nautical miles from Piraeus Area: 53 square miles Inhabitants: 8.207. Brief historical review. Colony for Psychopaths was founded in 1957 in Leros for multiple reasons:
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Leros can be everywhere • Leros: a beautiful Greek island of the Dodecanese Complex, in the Southern Aegean Sea. • 171 nautical miles from Piraeus • Area: 53 square miles • Inhabitants: 8.207 Theofanis Kleopas - Psychiatrist - S.S.P. & M.H.
Brief historical review Colony for Psychopaths was founded in 1957 in Leros for multiple reasons: • It served local labour interests and political favouritisms • It provided massive overnight decongestion of long stay institutions (e.g. Athens) • It secured the “non-acknowledgement” of the inner social beliefs, regarding mental illness Theofanis Kleopas - Psychiatrist - S.S.P. & M.H.
The reception from the locals was enthusiastic!! • The island had only one psychiatrist and practically undertrained staff • Thus, conditions moved from “sanctuary/asylum” to “living hell/asylum” • In 1964, the current government changed the name of the Colony to “Leros Psychiatric Hospital”, having at that time 2683 beds! Theofanis Kleopas - Psychiatrist - S.S.P. & M.H.
Minor Rehabilitation Efforts-Political Developments • Assembly of the “Leros Team” (1981) • Greece joins EC (1981) • National Health System Law 1397/83 becomes active (1983) • Regulation 815/84 becomes (controversially) active (1984). Regulation objectives were to deal with human right abuses on Leros and support the creation of regional mental health services Theofanis Kleopas - Psychiatrist - S.S.P. & M.H.
In 1989 the “Observer” and Channel 4 exposed the situation on Leros to the world Theofanis Kleopas - Psychiatrist - S.S.P. & M.H.
Dimensions of the Leros Problem • Political and bureaucratic • Acute embarrassment at exposure of the conditions on Leros to the world • Labyrinthine and highly politicized bureaucracy • Initial resentment of inspection and attempts to cover up Theofanis Kleopas - Psychiatrist - S.S.P. & M.H.
Economic • One third of the population of Leros worked in the hospital • Probably highest per capita income of any island in Greece, due to that reason • Creation of alternative economy in order to resolve the high hospital labour dependency Theofanis Kleopas - Psychiatrist - S.S.P. & M.H.
Psychiatric • Really old hospital establishments (Italian navy barracks of World War II) • Not sufficient medical supervision and inadequate staff training Theofanis Kleopas - Psychiatrist - S.S.P. & M.H.
Multinational Interventions • Special Rehabilitation Programme (Leros I and II) • Several national intervention teams from Oct 1990 to May 1991 (Ireland, Germany, UK, Italy and the Netherlands) • Objectives: • Knowledge • Cooperation • Stamina • Know-how • inspiration Theofanis Kleopas - Psychiatrist - S.S.P. & M.H.
Local Interventions • Thessaloniki team (e.g. K. Bairaktaris, V. Lazaridis, G. Kaprinis et al.) • Aris Liakos et al. • Athens team (e.g. N. Ploumbidis, C. Panetas, S. Stylianidis et al.) • Panagiotis Sakellaropoulos et al. • Dozens of mental health professionals (volunteers) Theofanis Kleopas - Psychiatrist - S.S.P. & M.H.
Giannis Loukas • Theodoros Megalooikonomou Theofanis Kleopas - Psychiatrist - S.S.P. & M.H.
Epilogue Theofanis Kleopas - Psychiatrist - S.S.P. & M.H.
“It takes a whole village to grow up a child” (traditional African saying) • “He who finds a friend finds a treasure” • “Attend towards the place you wanna go, or you will go towards the place you are attending to” (traditional Greek saying) Theofanis Kleopas - Psychiatrist - S.S.P. & M.H.
Thank you for your attention Theofanis Kleopas - Psychiatrist - S.S.P. & M.H.
