#mentalhealthhistory

[readersmagnet]

Asylum Scandals by Patricia Lubeck exposes the grim realities faced by 19th-century state hospitals, revealing harrowing accounts of abuse, neglect, and torture. This critical examination sheds light on the complex medical procedures and horrific conditions of insane asylums.

Dive into the shocking history of 19th-century state hospitals. Discover the dark realities of abuse and neglect detailed in Asylum Scandals. Visit https://www.plubeck.com/ and reveal the untold horrors of insane asylums.

[rebeccajordan092]

The history of mental asylums began long ago. People with mental troubles were often misunderstood and mistreated. As time passed, societies built asylums to house them. These places were meant to help but often brought suffering. Patients faced harsh conditions and painful treatments. Recently, a better understanding of mental health led to improved care. Asylums closed and replaced by modern therapies and support. History reminds us to treat all with kindness and adequately care for those in need...

[hexaflexageek]

Today's good thing, after a rubbish psych appointment. Three of us went to be interviewed by BBC Radio Newcastle for their morning show next Thursday, World Mental Health Day. We were talking about @headsandtales_heritage our mental health project, as well as other issues related to mental health difficulties, stigma, acceptance, autonomy, and the importance of all of our stories and lives as human beings rather than diagnoses. I think we did okay. Tune in on October 10th in the morning. Unless you're already at the Mental Health Day event at St. Nicholas Hospital. Also go this month to see our display in Newcastle City Library which is pretty lush. #newcastle #newcastleupontyne #tyneandwear #bbcradio @bbcneandcumbria #bbcradionewcastle #mentalhealth #mentalhealthawareness #mentalhealthday #mentalhealthweek #acceptance #interview #BBC #depression #anxiety #dissociation #mentalhealthhistory #madpride #goodday (at BBC Newcastle) https://www.instagram.com/p/B3KRkNzgfMI/?igshid=3ylhma8tczw5

[xxravenonmyshoulderxx]

Today’s book mail: ‘Ten Days in A Mad-House’ by Nellie Bly, the 2017 Nouveau Classics edition #tendaysinamadhouse #nelliebly #bellevuehospital #blackwellsisland #investigativejournalism #madgirl #W26Y #mentalhealthhistory #insaneasylum #victorianera #feministpioneer (at Wolseley, Winnipeg) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bvza-4kgwwO/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=gdvpiwkihcqx

[thatgrrltina]

Knowing if there are any mental health issues in your family will help your own: 🌻 Treatment 🌻 Prevention It just might be the key to keeping you on track towards your goals. ❤️❤️❤️ #MentalHealth #MentalHealthHistory #MentalHealthCheckup https://instagr.am/p/CfY-cbzvUPE/

[ofgraveconcern]

20th January 1651, birth of English Physician and father of comparative anatomy Edward Tyson. As well as his work in the first study of the comparison of the anatomy of different species; he was appointed physician and governor in 1684, to the Bethlem Hospital in Moorfields, London. The first insane asylum in England, the hospital was renowned for its inhumane treatment of its patients, and terrible living conditions; gaining the hospital its nickname “bedlam”, the term still in use today for confusion and disorder. During his governorship, Tyson attempted to shift the hospital’s reputation from a public spectacle to a place of benevolence. In 1698 Tyson published his study on the dissection of a chimpanzee, in ‘ the Anatomy of a Pygmie Compared with that of a Monkey, an Ape, and a Man’, he declared that the chimpanzee is closer to man than that of a monkey. All art shown is influenced by the history of medicine and mortality. You can find all the art plus lots more at the website: www.ofgraveconcern.com/medicineandmortality Follow @ofgrave.concern for more tales of dark history, and historically inspired art and illustration from 1348 - 1848. #thisweekinhistory #historyofmedicine #historyofanatomy #anatomical #bethlem #bedlam #bethlemhospital #anatomy #anatomyart #historyofpsychiatry #mentalasylum #asylums #17thcentury #17thcenturyhistory #historyofscience #historyofmedicine #darkhistory #anatomyofmelancholy #melancholyart #historicalillustration #historyillustration #strangehistory #comparitiveanatomy #strangeandunusual #insaneasylum #insaneasylums #onthisdayinhistory #londonhistory #mentalhealth #mentalhealthhistory https://www.instagram.com/p/CZFEisaFt48/?utm_medium=tumblr

[mentalhealthsolve]

Mental Health history . . . . . . . . . . . #mentalhealth #mentalhealthawareness #mentalillness#mentalhealthrecovery #UnitedStates #mentalhealthsolve #mentalwellness #mentalhealthsupport #handouts #factsheets #free #mentalhealthamerica #fightintheopen #freetoolkit #freeresources #mentalhealthmonth #mentalhealthawarenessmonth #mayismentalhealthamonth #tools2thrive #mhm21 #mhm2021 #therapy #recovery #recoveryisworthit #mentalhealthhistory (at United States) https://www.instagram.com/p/CQwTxuYgl5K/?utm_medium=tumblr

[husheduphistory]

Opening Doors to Mental Disorders

On October 12th 1773 the plans of Virginia Governor Francis Fauquier came to fruition with the opening of a new hospital in Williamsburg. Fauquier had petitioned for the facility for many years and when the first patient was admitted it was not only a start for the new hospital, but the beginning of an entirely new chapter in medical care. However, the treatments given at the hospital would today be considered nightmarish  consisting of ice water, shackles, and the free flowing of blood. None of these methods were unusual or looked upon with any shock, in fact this type of care was fully approved of inside the Public Hospital for Persons of Insane and Disordered Minds, America's first public insane asylum.

A depiction of the Public Hospital for Persons of Insane and Disordered Minds in its earliest days

  Prior to the opening of the Public Hospital for Persons of Insane and Disordered Minds the care of the mentally ill was left to family or members of the church but their needs normally greatly outweighed the caretakers's abilities. As a result it was common for these people to end up on the streets, in jail, or dead. Believing that science could cure these "persons who are so unhappy as to be deprived of their reason" Fauquier spoke to the House of Burgesses in November 1766 proposing a place where these people could be cared for by doctors who would "endeavor to restore to them their lost reason." Not only would these people receive care but Fauquier's argument was also that they would be off the streets and not able to "wander about the countryside, terrifying the rest of their fellow creatures." At first the burgesses paid no attention to the proposal of a public place solely for the care of the mentally ill but Fauquier pushed the issue and consigned some possible patients from the Public Gaol. Finally on on June 4, 1770, the legislators adopted an act to "Make Provision for the Support and Maintenance of Ideots, Lunaticks, and other Persons of unsound Minds." 

Construction of the hospital began in 1771 under the watch of contractor Benjamin Powell. The hospital consisted of one central building standing 100 feet long and 38 feet wide with a central hall leading to the keeper's quarters and patients cells and a central staircase to an upper level that led to a meeting room and more cells. Twenty-four cells were built with isolation in mind consisting of a stout door, one bared window, a straw-filled mattress, a chamber pot, and an iron ring in the wall where patients could be chained if it was deemed necessary. Later additions to the building would include 10-foot tall fences built to create exercise yards in 1790 and two cells being built underground in 1799 for those patients suffering from extreme "phrenzy". The man in charge of the daily operations of the new hospital was John Galt, the former keeper of the Public Gaol in Williamsburg. Additional staff of the hospital was Galt's wife Mary who served as the matron to the female patients, visiting physician Dr. John deSequeyra who checked on patients weekly and inspected new patients upon admittance, and a small staff of enslaved African-Americans. 

The  Public Hospital for Persons of Insane and Disordered Minds as it appeared in the 19th century

At the time of the hospital's opening the belief was that all mental illness was curable and that those afflicted chose to be ill requiring extreme actions to try to "convince" them to be cured. Consequentially, the facilities and treatments were not developed with the intention of long-term care being given, more like what treatments would convince and "cure" the patients to stop "acting irrationally" the fastest. Diagnosis was kept to only two terms, mania and melancholia, and the practices used to treat them included restraints, plunge baths into ice water, blistering salves, bloodletting, applying hot glasses to the skin, and the use of strong medications to induce vomiting. The spectrum of horrific practices widened with the addition of a electrostatic machine that would be used to administer electric shocks to the patients. 

A recreation of the cells at the  Public Hospital for Persons of Insane and Disordered Minds 

As the number of patients continued to grow so did the facility itself and in 1821 a female ward was built followed by a third floor being added in 1841. This expansion coincided with a new approach on treating mental health. In 1840 the hospital was renamed the Eastern Lunatic Asylum and the hospital began to move in a direction toward more humane ways to handle the patients inside. Referred to as "moral management" the practice emphasized kindness, cells were better furnished with beds, and the over 300 patients were encouraged to take part in leisure with some being allowed to go into town with supervision. The hospital seemed to finally be making a very positive upswing, however, this change was cut short with the onset of the Civil War and in the coming years the institution fell steeply backwards into neglect of both patients and facilities. In  1876 a fire broke out and destroyed a building, walls began falling apart, in 1884 the main gas generator burned out, and there were numerous complaints about staff drunkenness and the return of serious neglect. In 1885 a massive electrical fire swept through the complex destroying six buildings, including the original main structure, and killed three people. The remains of the buildings were knocked down and the rebuilding began directly on top of the remnants with the new facility being renamed the Eastern State Hospital.

The hospital continued to grow and by the 1930's over 2,000 patients called the complex home. The buildings would remain in place for nearly seventy-five years until the restoration of Colonial Williamsburg in the 1960's forced the facility out from the middle of the historic rehabilitation project and it was moved west of Williamsburg to land owned by  John D. Rockefeller Jr. Still fully operational in June of 1985 the 100 year old main hospital building was returned to it's original site as a museum with offices and six patient cells intact including the shackles still on the walls. Today an underground concourse is located in the former west wing of the building that connects the museum to the DeWitt Wallace Decorative Arts Museum and the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum. The Eastern State Hospital remains a fully functional facility located on the outskirts of Williamsburg Virginia on the same location where it was moved in the 1960's

The 1885 building as it appears today in Colonial Williamsburg

[hexaflexageek]

Returning to reading this, by Kate Millett, better known for Sexual Politics which I also own and haven't read. It's not easy. The honesty of accounts like this is never easy to encounter. The Loony Bin Trip is an account of her own experiences. I bought it after reading a superb talk she wrote, "The Illusion of Mental Illness" reproduced in the book "Alternatives Beyond Psychiatry." Another book I've not finished. As for me, I have accrued 18 different and mostly meaningless psych diagnoses. I have a traumagenic dissociative condition that brings much distress at times. But I do not have a mental illness. I am not mentally ill and changing the language I use about myself has been critical in recovery - however I define it - to the point I've reached and to the points I'll reach in the future, at which point recovery won't be the right word to use either. Millett's talk on mental illness and psychiatry is fantastic. I wish it was widely available but I can't find the text online. Think I need to read it again in the next few days. #book #bookstagram #mentalhealth #autobiography #booklover #katemillett #mentalhealthbooks #mentalhealthawareness #expertbyexperience #endstigma #madpride #mentalhealthsurvivor #book #mentalhospital #depression #mentalhealthhistory #feminist #feminism #lesbian #psychiatry #brilliant #feministaccount https://www.instagram.com/p/B2Q-lNMA2YQ/?igshid=br9mbe1d1nnz

[hexaflexageek]

I was too ill to contribute art to the Heads and Tales exhibition at @vanegallery . Disappointed by that but it couldn't be helped. However, I find some of the things I've doodled in sessions are in the collaborative project book pictured here, alongside some photos of mad pride badges I made. I can also be seen and heard in the video reel that's playing and in a radio interview you can find somewhere in the exhibition. I'll also perform a bit of spoken word there as part of the performance night on Tuesday. Mental health distress, especially after discovering DID via EMDR therapy that didn't go to plan, has meant I've been able to do far less than I'd wanted with the project. But I've been able to do some things and I'm bloody proud of the way I compered the project conference last weekend, the morning after uncovering some major trauma which has led to an extremely difficult week. Sob and wail for hours about recalled rape trauma then be excellent on a stage. Then sob for more hours. What a day. Recovery is possible and @headsandtales_heritage has been part of the recovery, well-being, and self confidence and respect of many people. Go see the exhibition while you can. It's pretty damn mint. #newcastleart #newcastle #newcastleupontyne #mentalhealth #mentalhealthart #art #artforall #madpride #madintheuk #nostigma #artexhibition #vanegallery #newcastlecitycentre #NE1 #culture #mentalhealthhistory #mentalhealthart #mentalillness #dissociativeamnesia #dissociativeidentitydisorder #didsystem #dissociation #youcandoit (at Newcastle upon Tyne) https://www.instagram.com/p/BzjPdbEgKuI/?igshid=1g6jl3mor9eje

[hexaflexageek]

Before the conference: Yesterday was the @headsandtales_heritage #mentalhealth #heritage #conference in #newcastle An excellent day. 13 fantastic talks by about 20 speakers including @chionwurahmp people from @chillistudios Members of the project steering group, including myself Victoria Armstrong from @disabilitynorth Lizzy and Zoe from Tyne and Wear Archives and Museums and lots more brilliant people, many of whom we've got to know well through project activities, research, development, outreach, creativity, and training. I'll probably post pictures from the conference that others have taken. I didn't have the restful spaces to take any myself. I also compered the event which was a miracle given the state of my own mental health at the time - see my very honest recent post about that. Sob and wail for three hours about bad things then go and be publicly capable for the day. All part of life for someone with DID. It's been a privilege to have been involved in the project for the last 18 months. #mentalhealth #mentalhealthawareness #mentalillness #youcandoit #acceptance #nostigma #madpride #newcastle #NE1 #positive #mentalhealthhistory #inclusion #didsystem #dissociativeidentitydisorder #youcan #mentalhealthday (at Newcastle upon Tyne) https://www.instagram.com/p/BzWDsItAo_D/?igshid=14y3v7c1y38dv

[hexaflexageek]

Creative workshop today, part of the Heads and Tales mental health heritage archive project. #mentalhealth #stigma #lotsoftea #mentalhealthawareness #creative #mentalhealthhistory #mentalhealthart #artstudio #artforall #chillistudios #NEEngland #newcastle #newcastleupontyne @headsandtales_heritage (at Chilli Studios) https://www.instagram.com/p/BtMd2tlB4uZ/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=27x2gcmr3uls

[hexaflexageek]

This morning's visit to BBC Radio Newcastle to talk about the Heads and Tales mental health heritage project with Kirsten O'Brien on the morning show. Let's do it again soon! Or talk about it on TV. That would be fun. Or talk about lots of aspects of mental health, society, and creativity with anyone who will invite us. The last year has been full of opportunities as I've worked hard to overcome complex mental health issues every day. This year will be full of opportunities too, life to be lived to the greatest extent possible. #selfie #grouppicture #newcastle #newcastleupontyne #tyneandwear @bbcneandcumbria @bbclooknorth #mentalhealth #mentalhealthawareness #madpride #acceptyourself #acceptance #liveradio #chillistudios @headsandtales_heritage #endstigma #loveyourself #mentalhealthhistory #mentalhealthwarrior #artstudio #northernengland #mentalillness (at Newcastle upon Tyne) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bssorg_h3X6/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=et10pnnkaglq

[hexaflexageek]

Pessimistic bluebottles. Altered displays at Bethlem Museum of the Mind. Personal opinions ahead. Others will disagree. The displays were quite sizable in comparison with the museum. But while pretty they didn't really express anything much. The museum was put together with a lot of input from museum display experts. Unfortunately that meant that people's voices weren't heard and much of the place was pretty shallow. I did like the amount of patient art but overall I was quite disappointed. There's a mental health museum in Wakefield. It's smaller than the Bethlem museum. But it contains a lot more and you feel more in touch with patients' voices, historical sources, and the voices of psychiatry too. An expensive display like the ones containing words on a screen and blue-lit chemists bottles that could have come from any Victorian chemist in the country just doesn't contribute to an appreciation of mental health history, heritage, meaning, debates, or the stories of patients. The labels on the bottles weren't even psychiatry connected. I guess they came from a pharmacy at old Bethlem but they might has well have come from a general chemist on any high street. As such the pretty things added nothing whatsoever to an appreciation either of history or of contemporary issues. That's sad. It's expert museum display. But it's also bland, empty museum display. Pretty though. They make for semi-decent photos. My personal view is that in many ways the museum is a missed opportunity in a way the Wakefield museum wasn't. Also, we were told in a talk just how wonderful Bedlam was in the mid 19th century compared to the county asylums. That might have been more convincing if I hadn't already read the visitation and inspection reports from that time. #mentalhealth #mentalhealthblogger #mentalhealthhistory #heritage #mentalhospital #bedlam #critic #museum #pessimist #pessimistic #bottles #blue #disappointed #missedopportunity #mentalillness #depression #schizophrenia #mentalhealthart #expert #madpride #noshame #stigma https://www.instagram.com/p/BrsZIV5hikH/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=gqcv1ozs04ru

[hexaflexageek]

First responses to Bedlam, Museum of the Mind. Made in moments, because I was told I had to, on the train back. A good day. But the highlight was a surprise swing not the museum. #mentalhealth #mentalhealthblogger #poetry #mentalhealthsurvivor #mentalhealthawareness #museum #diagnosis #mentalhealthart #madpride #response #goodday #depression #dissociation #dsm5 #mentalhealthhistory #nostigma #autistic #mentalhospital #bedlam #museumofthemind #mind https://www.instagram.com/p/BrpOK7XBZzX/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=vdxeesskwb0r