Amish eye psychiatric treatment   
   By Martha Raffaele   
   ASSOCIATED PRESS   
   Published May 23, 2005   
      
       MOUNT GRETNA, Pa. - On the grounds of a private psychiatric center,   
   Amish carpenters are at work on a modest, two-story house with   
   light-gray siding -- a place that will serve members of their faith who   
   are afflicted with mental illness.   
       The home, Green Pastures, will allow people from the Old Order   
   Amish and conservative Mennonite communities east of Harrisburg to live   
   among their own community and maintain a lifestyle that eschews modern   
   conveniences -- no television or radio -- while receiving outpatient   
   clinical treatment.   
       Known for their plain style of dress and use of horse-drawn   
   buggies, the Amish tend to avoid seeking psychiatric help in secular   
   settings, fearing their religious traditions will be viewed as part of   
   the problem.   
       When it opens in July, the Amish-run Green Pastures will be one of   
   at least two residential facilities in the nation that place the Amish   
   in familiar settings, said the organization that will provide the   
   treatment, Philhaven Behavioral Healthcare Services.   
       Counselors will assure patients that the treatment will not include   
   requiring them to abandon their faith, said Charles G. Bauman, a   
   Mennonite who is Philhaven's liaison with the Amish community.   
       "This will build a bridge between the professional [mental-health]   
   services and their culture," Mr. Bauman said. "People who are mentally   
   ill are vulnerable to being easily influenced by other people."   
       The first facility of its kind in Pennsylvania, Green Pastures --   
   which can accommodate up to 15 residents -- is a collaboration between   
   Philhaven and leaders of the Amish community, who first approached the   
   organization with the idea in June 2003, Mr. Bauman said.   
       A broad range of psychiatric care is available to the Amish   
   communities throughout North America, from professional services to   
   more informal, homespun programs run by conservative sects, said Donald   
   B. Kraybill, a sociologist of Anabaptist studies at Elizabethtown   
   College.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)