CCTV and cameras are not uncommon on mental health wards, used with the intention of keeping patients safe. But some say that new technology, where cameras also monitor their pulse and breathing in their bedrooms, is adding to their sense of paranoia and in some cases making them more unwell.
It’s the sense big brother is always watching you – that’s really, really scary as a mental health patient, especially if you are experiencing paranoia.
For a lot of people when they are really unwell that can relate to fears or trauma around surveillance – whether that is paranoia or relates to past trauma, like sexual or domestic abuse.
Hat, Nell and Sophina are not alone in their concerns. The Royal College of Psychiatrists and the mental health charity Rethink have now said they want to see the rollout of video surveillance paused.
Patients have said they’ve been afraid to sleep in their own beds, they’ve been sleeping on the floor of the bathroom. They’ve been sleeping under a desk or out in communal areas – just because they’re too afraid of the camera.
I didn’t feel safe sleeping in bed with a camera… not knowing who was watching me or when.
Mental health is still very, very much the kind of pariah in terms of being underfunded and being underthought about, and really in terms of being dehumanised in a way that we don’t find elsewhere.
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