Psychiatric hospitals are facilities for people who have severe mental illness problems. One of the earliest insane asylums was Bethlem, London, which was made in 1247. people with mental illness were placed in places called asylums which were very crowded institutions that were underfunded. Once a patient was placed in an asylum it was very hard for them to get out. In the 1700s there were a few private asylums where the rich could send their relatives. The poor were out of luck around this time, they would rely on a parish to fund the patient or they could be sent to a workhouse or a prison. During these times, The Bath of Surprise method was used, this was a form of “treatment” where they would take a patient and surprisingly dunk them in an ice cold bath. They would strap them down from hours to even days.
In the early 1800s, mental illness was treated by isolation. They believed that people with mental illness were dangerous and shouldn’t be kept in public. Around this time the caretakers at these asylums would put the patient in a small cage with chains for hours to days or until the patient was calm.
During the early 1900s.These patients also had “treatments” which were usually not effective and would not be done to people today. During these times the patients were usually not put in by themself, instead, their families would send them to the institutions without their consent. Lobotomy was a very common form of treatment. A lobotomy was a traumatic brain surgery where they insert a tool into the brain. Many claimed that this would cure depression, schizophrenia, and personality disorders. Although it was believed that it could work and cure some, it was usually ineffective and inhumane. This treatment caused patients to end up with irreversible brain damage.
Currently, insane asylums isn't the term that is used as often. Mental hospitals formed around 1960 when John F. Kennedy signed the Community Mental Health Centers Act. This act stated that states can fund and support the building of mental health hospitals. It created community based care instead of institutional based care. Today many things have changed in these asylums. First of all, patients are now being treated with proper medications and therapy. Today, the caretakers understand how to help and treat mental illness. In mental hospitals they focus more on stabilization. When the patient is stable enough to go into the community they will be discharged. The average stay for mental hospitals today is around 10 days, which is significantly less than in the 1900s where they could be there from months to years, or even their whole lives.
How would you feel if your family sent you to a mental hospital without you knowing?
Do you think the treatments they used actually worked?
How do you think society treats or should treat people in mental hospitals?
https://psychcentral.com/blog/a-day-in-the-life-of-a-mental-hospital-patient#changes-over-time
https://fherehab.com/learning/treat-mental-health-centuries
https://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/objects-and-stories/medicine/victorian-mental-asylum
Replies
I would be very upset if my family sent me to a mental hospital without me knowing. I think that some of the treatments they used were a little bit brutal, but some could habe been hlepful. I think that mental hospitals are gettign better but need to give less harsh punishments.
I agree. A lot of the treatments were not good to use on patients and I don't think they helped much.
I don't think the treatments worked, people back then weren't as educated as they are now. Though we have new treatments doctors are finding different and more effective ones every day. I think I would be upset if my family tried to send me to a mental hospital without me knowing, I would feel betrayed.
I agree. Doctors have changed a lot in this way, they know the proper treatments and what not to do.
I would feel terrible if I knew that my family had sent me to a mental hospital. I think that it is really bad that people send their family members to insane asylums just to get rid of them. I think that people in mental hospitals should be treated better because it is not helping their condition if they are being hurt and mistreated.
I agree. I think people in mental hospitals should be treated normally and with kindness rather than people looking down on them.
I would be scared and confused to why they would send me to a mental hospital without telling me. I think some of the treatments wouuld work but it kind of depends on the patient. People should treat them with respect and support them so they get better.
I agree. A lot of the treatments were more cruel than they needed to be. I think there were other ways to treat them rather than violence.
Id feel pretty outcasted and hurt. No. Un alive them all so theres no need to have mental hospitals.
I would be very hurt and I would feel disrespected if my family sent me to a mental hospital without me knowing. I think that some of the treatments they use work but it also depends on the willingness of the patient for the treatment to take affect. I think people treat people in mental hospitals like children.
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