In the mid-1960s, the deinstitutionalization movement gained support and asylums were closed, enabling people with mental illness to return home and receive treatment in their own communities. Later, asylums were built to house the mentally ill, but the patients received little to no treatment, and many of the methods used were cruel.

Today, instead of asylums, there are psychiatric hospitals run by state governments and local community hospitals, with the emphasis on short-term stays. It was once believed that people with psychological disorders, or those exhibiting strange behavior, were possessed by demons.

deinstitutionalization — process of closing large asylums and integrating people back into the community where they can be treated locally. asylum — institution created for the specific purpose of housing people with psychological disorders. couples therapy — two people in an intimate relationship, such as husband and wife, who are having difficulties and are trying to resolve them with therapy. structural family therapy — therapist examines and discusses with the family the boundaries and structure of the family: who makes the rules, who sleeps in the bed with whom, how decisions are made, and….