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
If my family member sent me to a mental hospital without me knowing I would be very mad. I don't think that it is right to be put into a mental hospital without warning or being asked for your opinion. I think that mental hospitals can help some people, but not everyone. For some people, being alone can worsen the state that they are in.
I agree. I feel that the patient should get a choice if they should go. On the other hand, if the patient is really bad then they should go and get help.
If one of my family members was sent to a mental hospital without me knowing I would be mad because one of my family members was sent into a mental hospital without me knowing. I think society should treat them because there is a chance that they can get their mental problems under control.
I would be really upset if they sent me to a mental hospital, especially because many of them were not that safe. I think that many treatments caused more truama and harm they they actually helped. There is so many stories of the horrors that happened in asylums. I think that we should normalize mental health hospitals becuase they are actually helping struggling people.
I agree. I really don't think that the treatments back then worked very well, if anything they just harmed the patients more.
I would be mad because they didn't let me know. I feel like it depends on what the person mental illness is. I think that society treats them pretty bad but I think that they should be treated with repect and fairness.
If I got sent to a mental hospital by my family without me knowing, I would feel very alone but I would know they're just trying to help me. I think that the treatments do work, depending on the severity. Mental health is something a lot of people deal with, we should always be there for those in need.
I agree. I would be mad if I got sent to a mental hospital, but I also would need to realize that there was most likely a reason.
I would be really mad if my family ended up sending me to a mental hospital without me knowing. I'm not very sure if the treatments work because it doesn't seem to help some people. But overall, I think most of the treatments were very mean and not very effective.
I would feel really sad if my family sent me to a mental hosptial without me knowing. If I had to send a family member to a metal hospital I would put my best interest in the thought. I think the treatments now-a-days do work, compared to the ones from a long time ago.
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