Insane Asylums in the 1800s: Life in the Inside

What were the insane asylums really like back in the 1800s and even early 1900s? While we may not have someone to talk and gain firsthand knowledge of this era in our history we sure can do our research on the Internet and uncover the past.

To understand what it was like to be in an insane asylum, we first must examine who the patients were. While most of the people who were patients in there because of real mental illnesses that we recognize today, some people wound up in the mental asylums that had no real reason to be there, according to today's standards.

On the Tennessee Genealogical Society, web site one can read about the bogus reasons that mentally healthy women went into the insane asylums. Some of theses women were hospitalized because they questioned the authority of their husbands or were not good enough homemakers. Any woman was at risk for being placed if she questioned the man of the household.

If a woman grew too old the husband could have her committed and would take a younger wife. Menopause or PMS was reason enough to ship her off to a facility. Once a woman was committed to the asylum, it was as if she died, and usually an obituary was published.

Heck a landlord could have a tenant committed for not paying rent, being outlandish in behavior or dress. A boss could do the same thing to an employee, if the employee was slow or a 'bad employee'. People could be committed if they were poor. One could be committed for being a alcoholic, person with a short fuse, or anyone who deviated from the normal things society thought was right. This goes for both men and woman and this is very sad indeed to be admitted to an insane asylum for such a thing.

Children who acted out or had mental or physical disabilities were also placed in mental asylums. Imagine a blind child or a child with a speech problem being locked away for his or her entire life because of a birth defect. Some of these children had normal intelligence and no mental diseases but they were placed in institutions with other people who did have these problems. These children grew up thinking this was normal for people.

Another thing these children assumed was normal is the treatment they received during their stay within the mental asylums. If these children went there when they were babies, they grew up believing this is was the way life was. It is no wonder that so many insane asylums are haunted and will be for eternity.

Patients inside these insane asylums were subjected to ice cold baths, beatings, starvation, or being a slave to the facility. They were forced to work within the facility until laws were passed that prevented it. Patients were chained or shackled to ensure complacency. This way they would not harm themselves or the other patients. The bedrooms within these facilities were unheated in the winter months up north, while insane asylum patients down south sweltered in the hot summer months.

Cleanliness was not stressed and infection control was unheard of so when an illness ran through the building many people got sick and some died without medical treatment. The common flu bug took many lives each season in mental asylums around the country.

Resources:

http://www.toddlertime.com/advocacy/hospitals/Asylum/history-asylum.htm

http://www.ushistory.org/us/26d.asp

http://blacksheepancestors.com/usa/insane.shtml

http://www.tngs.org/library/asylum.htm