Tag Archives: acute insanity

Insanity and Stereotypes

Patient With Acute Melancholia

Patient With Acute Melancholia

I believe that one reason insane asylums became popular–initially–is that they broke down traditional stereotypes about what it meant to be insane. For years, people viewed insanity as both incurable and hereditary. As views changed in the 1830s, hope became possible for families dealing with insanity. Alienists believed the condition could be cured, especially if it were nipped in the bud during what they called the acute phase. Asylums were looked upon as “hospitals for the mind” and alienists held out the possibility of curing  diseases of the mind just as they did for diseases of the body.

At the same time, alienists began moving away from the idea that insanity was heredity. This belief shows itself in the many Victorian-era novels where heroes/heroines refuse to marry because of the “tainted blood” they might pass on. Alienists began to think that at most, heredity only gave a predisposition toward insanity, just as it might give a child a predisposition toward certain physical conditions. But, just as “weak lungs” might be prevented through fresh air and exercise, a predisposition toward melancholia, for example, might be thwarted by brisk mental activity, interesting hobbies, social involvement, and so on.

This new thinking was so encouraging for families who had a member with mental health issues!

Cures and Controversy

Insane Asylums Could Be Beautiful, Architecturally

Insane Asylums Could Be Beautiful, Architecturally

Though it took years to make asylum care acceptable to the mainstream public, ordinary citizens did eventually begin to believe in the professionalism and experience provided by these institutions. After that, they began using asylums in increasing numbers. Asylums definitely relieved family members from the anxiety of caring for mentally ill loved ones, and took the drudgery and constant attendance that some patients required off family caretakers’ shoulders. Eventually insane asylums became popular enough to become overcrowded, and the question of how to manage “incurable” patients arose.

Many alienists believed that if they could intervene in a case of insanity soon after it manifested (an acute case), they stood a good chance of curing it. However, when families kept mentally ill members at home until they ran out of time, money, or the physical ability to continue providing care, the situation was less hopeful. These long-standing cases, alienists feared, were incurable.

What should be done with such patients? Superintendents hated to divert money and time from their more acute (and therefore curable) patients to the chronically insane who were nearly impossible to cure. Yet, these long-term patients still needed care. The idea of special asylums for “incurables” soon came up for consideration. My next post will discuss the position that many in the profession took toward asylums for the incurably insane.