Tag Archives: treatments for insanity

Interesting Cases

2 Replies
Alienists Could Be Prominent Public Figures

Alienists Could Be Prominent Public Figures

Alienists (psychiatrists) wanted to provide good care for the insane in their midst, and in the early years offered assistance primarily  through therapeutic stays at insane asylums. These doctors’ favored regimens of rest, occupational therapy, and structured time probably served many patients well, but such programs could not help everyone. Alienists were still exploring the causes and treatments of insanity, and some of their thoughts missed the mark widely.

In an 1871 paper on mental disease (reported in the Transactions of the Medical Society of the State of North Carolina), the author described a “case of violent cerebral excitement” in a 5-year-old, which had been relieved by an oral dose of bromide of potassium. This case of “mental disease” seems to be clearly a case of epilepsy, and we can only wonder if the child was tagged for life as insane.

Another paper in the same publication discussed “Mania Transitoria,” or insanity of very short duration. During this type of mania, people could be fully aware of their surroundings (or not) and actions. It was brought on by such things as physical disease or the “accumulation of harbored feelings over a number of years.” The author seems to be describing explosions of temper or momentary passionate outbursts, but he attributed this type of insanity’s cause–or attributed it at least in part–to masturbation and petit mal epilepsy.

Craig Colony for Epileptics, courtesy museumofdisability.org

Craig Colony for Epileptics, courtesy museumofdisability.org

Cures For Epilepsy Were Plentiful

Cures For Epilepsy Were Plentiful

Opposing Systems

2 Replies

McLean Asylum for the Insane, courtesy National Library of Medicine

Though Dr. Harry R. Hummer’s medical and psychological experience did not guarantee the best care for patients at the Canton Asylum for Insane Indians, at least he had the proper background for the position he held. The asylum’s first superintendent, Oscar Gifford, had no medical training at all. The Indian Office bears exceptional fault for appointing someone without the obvious qualifications to head a medical facility; by 1902, it was nearly incomprehensible that an insane asylum superintendent would not also have a psychiatric background.

In contrast, the McLean Asylum for the Insane in Massachusetts was a premier establishment that catered to wealthy families who could afford to give their loved ones the best of care. Its staff administered typical therapies for the time: calomel, Epsom salts, opium products, and various purges, along with rest and recreation designed to calm patients and help them keep their minds off their troubles. Recreation could include sewing and reading, billiards, tennis, strolls through manicured gardens, carriage rides, trips into town, and art appreciation classes. But, despite its country club atmosphere, between 1888 and 1892, McLean established laboratories that combined biological chemistry, physiological psychology, and psychiatry, and were perhaps rivaled  by only Professor Emil Kraepelin’s laboratory in Heidelberg, Germany.

Otto Folin in the McLean Hospital Biochemistry Lab, 1905, courtesy McLean Hospital

Interiors of McLean Asylum's East House, circa 1903, courtesy Harvard Art Museums

______________________________________________________________________________________