Douche Bath in Pennsylvania Hospital for the Insane, 1868, courtesy cournellpsychiatry.org

Some asylum superintendents treated their patients like naughty children or criminals, imposing punishment upon those who were unruly or uncooperative.

Doctors forced patients to take hyoscyamine (an alkaloid found in henbane that has a very bitter, nasty taste) or to drink disgusting concoctions. Another popular punishment was the plunge bath, in which patients were repeatedly dunked in ice-cold water.

Hyoscyamine (Henbane)

Patients who were able to work, but refused to do so, were especially irritating. Doctors might try to humiliate or degrade them by forcing these patients to wear ragged clothes, or by cutting their hair off.

Other doctors noted that these punishments seldom worked, and called for humane treatment. In their opinion, the insanity itself was the cause of a patient’s misbehavior. These doctors felt it was pointless to punish someone who couldn’t control his behavior or had lost his moral sense through the disease of insanity.

Surprise Bath, courtesy cornellpsychiatry.org

________________________________________________________