This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1878 edition. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER XIV. To the People of the State of Michigan: Come, let us reason together. Let us look at this asylum question in its true light. Let us who pay our money for the support of this institution demand that it be conducted on the same principle the law makes provision for. Our insane are taken to the asylum retreat to be cared for and benefited, and not to be injured. Our state law (referring to the asylum law) says, first, " Care shall be taken that no person be injured." (It matters not how violent a patient may be, they can be managed without injury.) Let us see to it that this law be observed. Second, " That every patient shall be seen, and notice taken of their condition, as often as once or twice a day, as the case may demand." Third, "That no person be received as a patient unless first examined by two physicians, and pronounced a fit subject for the asylum." And furthermore, " that no person be detained there who is not really insane." And another consideration, "There should be no ignorant or unprincipled attendants employed." I know for a positive fact that these laws were not regarded nor kept by those who had charge of this institution, and that the said superintendent, Dr. E. H. Vandusen, was not only guilty of gross neglect, but also of wilful and premeditated wrongs. The first lessons were not learned at Kalamazoo, as the Tyler case and others will show. I think it very important that there should be a law providing a fund of relief or compensation where attendants are injured by violent patients. There has been no such provision made as yet. Let this subject be considered. One attendant was seriously injured while I was there by being bitten by a patient. She was so much injured that she had to go to a great expense...

"Mrs. Packard says that because she expressed 'obnoxious views' in Sunday School at the Old School Presbyterian Church in Manteno, Kankakee County, Illinois, her husband of twenty-one years and father of her six children, the Reverand Theophilus Packard, 'abducted' her and took her to the asylum and had her incarcerated (which was legal per Illinois statute of 1851). She faithfully recorded events of her imprisonment - for that is what it was - and declares that what happened to her was not uncommon. The conditions, attitudes and behavior she describes are dreadful and extreme - and not much improved twelve decades later" -- insert provided by seller.

A man desperately tries to keep his pact with the Devil, a woman is imprisoned in an insane asylum by her husband because of religious differences, and, on the testimony of a mere stranger, "a London citizen" is sentenced to a private madhouse. This anthology of writings by mad and allegedly mad people is a comprehensive overview of the history of mental illness for the past five hundred years-from the viewpoint of the patients themselves.Dale Peterson has compiled twenty-seven selections dating from 1436 through 1976. He prefaces each excerpt with biographical information about the writer. Peterson's running commentary explains the national differences in mental health care and the historical changes that have take place in symptoms and treatment. He traces the development of the private madhouse system in England and the state-run asylum system in the United States. Included is the first comprehensive bibliography of writings by the mentally ill.

Experiences in the Insane Hospital of Alabama.

"Questions of Power: The Politics of Women's Madness Narratives explores the ways in which women have used autobiographical writing in response to psychiatric symptoms and treatment. By addressing health and healing from the patient's perspective, the study raises questions about psychiatric practice and mental health policy. The ultimate thesis is that autobiographies by women psychiatric patients can expose many of the problems in psychiatric treatment and indicate directions for change."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved