I did not get the sense bdeaner was minimizing the seriousness of schizophrenia and other mental illness. I just think that our industrial approach to treating the disease is not working by any measure. bdeaner was providing some historical accounts of a more humane approach to treating the mentally ill. I worked in locked psych for a number of years and while the patients had very obvious psychotic symptoms these people were able to respond to behavioral therapies especially when the environment was peaceful. The character of the people working with the patients was also key but unfortunately there were some angry cruel people working on every ward. Sadly about a third of the patients in locked psych wards are so mentally ill that no therapy works and they must be chemically restrained for the safety of society, but this must be considered as an absolute last resort.
it's a fine approach, just throw away the key to the real world. Also, hope that you can maintain a staff for long periods of time that will not become abusive or exploitative , maybe it would work by paying them a lot of money. But I read what bdeaner said, he minimizes the illnesses, to say anything else is...hyperbole.