Mental Diseases Hospital in Tbilisi

       The Hospital for Mental Diseases in Tbilisi, holds the biggest area in Saburtalo district. The small detached buildings are scattered around the area, and all of them performs the psychiatric hospital. 

       The ordinate doctor – Mrs. Khatuna Kobakhidze talks about hospital’s patients in the interview. According to her, the statistics of patients, with mental disorder was increased during the last years. She names the social problems as reasons, such as war, poverty. The persecuted people from Gori arrived in the hospital two or three months after the war ended. “They have experienced such a terrible moments that they needed to calm down and avoid the stress,” says the doctor.  The hospital doesn’t keep them for a long time, they give them a prescription of special medicines and let them go. But also there are the patients, who are in a worse condition, and the medicine is not only way to cure. For example, there are people who have hallucinations. Looking after them is hard, they scream, roar, and are terrified with the voices they hear. The psychiatrist keeps them in the hospitals, where they undergo the medical treatment.

       The longest-term treatment includes 3 or 4 months. But there are the patients who have chronic diseases and looking after them in house conditions are impossible. For example schizophrenic people, they stay longer.

       Mrs. Kobakhidze cures the 18 patients nowadays. There are the patients who adapt the accommodation while staying in the asylum, the patients who have passed the full course treatment, usually have  no desire to leave the area, but the most reasons of why the patients don’t want to go back home, is the nonexistence of dwelling place, relatives, friends,  also the fear of unemployment in the future. Sometimes when the patient stays more than a month, they don’t want to get in touch with the people outside and prefer staying isolated in the building, which becomes their shelter. But doctors try to get into contact with them all the time to avoid alienation of patients towards atmosphere outside and sane people.

     The patients are financed by government with 22 laris a day for each of them. According to ordinate doctor this sum of money is not enough for that place. For example, the patients, mentioned above, having mental diseases, often have the dark periods, during this periods they can’t abstain themselves from bed behavior such as braking the windows, tearing the clothes, blankets, sheets and throwing them outside. To renovate all this, much money is required. The accommodation in the rooms is normal, provided with bathrooms and central heating. The patients eat three times a day. But of course it is not enough to give our patients such international level conditions that are abroad in many hospitals.   

     There are two types of patients in the hospital: 

     Voluntary patients – when the one guesses that he/she needs some treatment and visit the hospital. Compulsory patients – when the condition of the his/her is sharp, dangerous for people, the emergency cars bring this kind of sick people in the hospital. Then the hospital gives their case in the court. The judge discusses it and after that, decides whether the patient needs the treatment or not.