History of Insane Asylums

Asylums: A Prison

• During the 18th century patients were chained up like prisoners

A Change: Start of treatment

• Mental hospitals eventually changed from confining patients to treating them. Doctors did not know how to treat those with mental illness, so they started to try new things.

• In 1936, psychiatrist Walter Freeman performed the first lobotomy surgically. In 1946, the first ice pick lobotomy was performed, which involved taking an ice pick and inserting it above the patients eyeball into the frontal lobes of the brain, moving the instrument back and forth.

Asylums: Inhumane

Overcrowding in these institutions led to concern about the quality of care that patients were receiving.

• Even though they started different types of treatment in Mental Asylums, they were still considered inhumane.

• Hydrotherapy was used to calm those with excited and agitated behavior

The Bethlem Royal Hospital in London is the oldest and most inhumane known Insane Asylum.

Mental Hospitals Today

• Today the number of mentally ill people that live in hospitals is under 40,000 patients. The mentally ill are more accepted within the society, instead of being locked up in an institution.

Jails: The New Insane Asylums

• Jail houses about 300,000 people with mental illnesses, while hospitals hold about 35,000 people.

• An illustrated hisory of the mental asylum. (2014, January 1). Retrieved October 12, 2014, from http://news.discovery.com/human/life/slideshow-history-mental-asylum.htm

• Bethlem Royal Hospital. (2014, January 1). Retrieved October 12, 2014, from http://www.gutsandgore.co.uk/infamous-asylums/bethlem-royal-hospital/

• Clark, M. (2014, April 8). Prisons are the 'new asylums' of the US: Report. Retrieved October 12, 2014, from http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc/prisons-are-the-new-asylums-the-us

• Council on Crime and Justice. (n.d.). Retrieved October 12, 2014, from http://www.crimeandjustice.org/councilinfo.cfm?pID=5

• Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT). (n.d.). Retrieved October 12, 2014, from http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/ect

• Hydrotherapy. (n.d.). Retrieved October 12, 2014, from https://www.lib.uwo.ca/archives/virtualexhibits/londonasylum/hydrotherapy.html

• The 10 Worst Mental Health Treatments in History. (n.d.). Retrieved October 12, 2014, from http://www.everydayhealth.com/pictures/worst-mental-health-treatments-history/#08

• The Surprising History of the Lobotomy. (n.d.). Retrieved October 12, 2014, from http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2011/03/21/the-surprising-history-of-the-lobotomy/

• Top 10 Most Popular Mental Asylum Stories. (n.d.). Retrieved October 12, 2014, from http://www.totallytop10.com/history/top-10-most-popular-mental-asylum-stories

• Utica crib. (n.d.). Retrieved October 12, 2014, from http://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/19th-and-20th-century-psychiatry-22-rare-photos/12/