Late 19th Century Insane Asylums

The state of mental health care has improved dramatically since the late nineteenth century. Not only have the conditions of mental health institutions themselves greatly improved, but the treatment of patients has improved significantly, as well. According to "Reports From the Nineteenth-century Asylum" by Sarah Newman, in the 19th century, basically any forms of mental illness or abnormalities of behavior were classified as insanity (1). Unfortunately, according to CBS News, this meant that even people who were mentally retarded were thrown in insane asylums. Doctors then chose to isolate and neglect these patients (2).

The staff in many mental hospitals would abuse their patients and frame the abuse as a type of therapy. In her research, Newman found that one patient recorded that they were frequently restrained in a straitjacket without even being given medication, and if they were given any medication, it was done inconsistently and without consent. Other than being forced to take medication, Newman found that no writer that was in an asylum reported any kind of "healing therapy" besides being constrained (1). This was one of the most frequent abuses that patients faced in an insane asylum in the late nineteenth century.

Treatment for patients in the late nineteenth century was not as advanced as it is now. According to CBS News, by the 1850s, using electricity was a widely practiced treatment for psychiatric ailments. Patients suffered countless types of abuse at the hands of doctors who were supposedly trying to "cure" them (2). 

Buffalo State Hospital, New York (4)
Insane asylums were designed a certain way in order to help the patients more. There are many windows for natural lighting and fresh air, and the hospital is on a large piece of land because it was considered to be therapeutic (3)

Even the architecture of insane asylums were designed a particular way that was thought to be beneficial to the patients. According to Ranker.com Dr. Thomas Story Kirkbride, a psychiatrist in the nineteenth century, came up with the plan for a new type of standard design for insane asylums. This design became particularly popular in America. The asylums were supposed to be secluded "sanctuaries" where patients would be safe and their ailments would be treated. The buildings were supposed to have "a central administrative hub with two long wings jutting out from the center. These wings would consist of tiered wards where the patients would reside" (3). Patients were segregated by the symptoms of their illness and their genders. Patients who were more well-behaved were situated on upper floors in the rooms that were closest to the administration. Since natural lighting and fresh air were seen as factors that worked towards curing patients, this design Kirkbride came up with allowed patients to enjoy the maximum amount of sunlight and fresh air. Most insane asylums were also situated on a lot of land because "the massive, landscaped grounds were also considered therapeutic" (3).

Works Cited

(1) Newman, Sara. "Disability and Life Writing: Reports from the Nineteenth-Century Asylum." Journal of Literary & Cultural Disability Studies, no. 3, 2011, p. 261. EBSCOhost, proxy-bloomu.klnpa.org/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login? url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsglr&AN=edsgcl.266563881&site=eds-live&scope=site

(2) CBS News. "19th And 20th Century Psychiatry: 22 Rare Photos." CBS News, CBS Interactive, 29 Sept. 2011, www.cbsnews.com/pictures/19th-and-20th-century-psychiatry-22-rare-photos/11/.

(3) Myers, Christopher. "13 Unforgivable Facts About Life In 19th Century Insane Asylums." Ranker, www.ranker.com/list/life-in-19th-century-mental-institutions-and-insane-asylums/christopher-myers.

(4) Popova, Maria. "Inside the Haunting World of 19th-Century Mental Hospitals." The Atlantic, Atlantic Media Company, 9 Sept. 2011, www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2011/09/inside-the-haunting-world-of-19th-century-mental-hospitals/244747/.