Tag Archives: insane asylum superintendent

Pursuing an Agenda

American Journal of Insanity

Asylum superintendents tended to support each other and their profession, and presented a united front to the public. Though they published studies and treatment-oriented articles in the American Journal of Insanity (AJA) and other medical organs, the AJA in particular reflected much of their philosophy.

In a July, 1868 article, “Admission to Hospitals for the Insane,” the author contended that it was especially unkind to make the insane endure a public hearing on their sanity. “If we find a man sick or wounded in the street, we take him forthwith to the nearest hospital, without stopping to canvass our legal right to restrain him of his liberty,” the author stated.

With the insane, however, relatives force publicity by requiring “an inquisition to establish the delirium or the lunacy,” the article continued. He said that there was no more reason why a magistrate or civil authority should inquire into treatment [for an insane person] than there was to “rescue a patient from the hands of a skillful surgeon who is binding him to an operating table to perform an amputation.”

This article is only one instance of an ongoing disagreement between the psychiatric profession and private citizens about the value of admitting (or coercing) patients into asylums without due process.

Amariah Brigham, founder of the AJA

Mary Todd Lincoln (Judged Insane by a Jury After a 10-Minute Deliberation)

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Management Incompetence

O.S. Gifford

Overcrowding was not a true reason for the problems the Canton Asylum for Insane Indians experienced. (See last post.) Its first superintendent, O. S. Gifford, took over a new facility with few patients. He reported in June of 1903 that he had received 16 patients that year, one of whom died, and two of whom recovered. He was expecting to have a total of 24 patients by the next month. His fiscal year, 1904 report reflected that he had 16 males and 8 females. In fiscal year, 1905, Gifford had 23 males and 16 females.  He used a fairly commonsense approach to therapy, and felt that he knew his patients well. He allowed fishing and picnicking, dancing, and other pastimes suited to his patients’ inclinations, and took some of his patients to town. Gifford certainly fell in with the model of a superintendent who had enough time to spend with patients.

Though Gifford could send patients home as recovered, based on his and/or Dr. Turner’s assessment, he didn’t have the knowledge to institute any kind of mental health therapy for them. His assistant, Dr. Turner appeared to take a great interest in his patients’ medical conditions, but also didn’t have the background to set up a comprehensive treatment plan. Gifford’s real mistake was in not following Turner’s medical advice. When he would not allow Turner to operate on a patient, that patient later died and Turner was understandably bitter over it. The situation brought to a head many of Turner’s other grievances, and the resultant investigation made it clear that the asylum’s superintendent needed to be an acting physician. That didn’t necessarily help Turner, because he knew he wouldn’t get the job, but he at least felt vindicated.

Small, Early Asylum in New York

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Slow to Change

Western North Carolina Insane Asylum

Early alienists knew little about why a person became insane, but they were always willing to guess. The superintendent of Western North Carolina Insane Asylum reported on the causes for admission to the facility in 1888. They included: the Civil War, disappointment, jealousy, menstrual irregularity, nostalgia, and political excitement. In 1908, the same asylum listed these causes for admission: brooding over sin, cigarette smoking, climacteric worry, desire to marry, ear disease, fear of child-birth, fear of pregnancy, fright, and hard work and nose bleed.

We seem to be living in more enlightened times, but today’s psychiatric profession has its own absurdities. The current Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders lists “caffeine-induced sleep disorder” and “mathematics disorder” as valid mental illnesses. Their list has risen from 265 recognized disorders in 1980 to 365 today.

Insane Asylum, Phoenix, Arizona

Patient in an Insane Asylum, photographed by Dr. Hugh Welch (Britain)

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