Reasons to be admitted to an insane asylum

Quite a large proportion of patients were detained in psychiatric hospitals as they were in the tertiary stage of syphilis. It was then called General Paralysis of the Insane or GPI. So many people had untreated syphilis following the war. The end results are dreadful.

I worked briefly as an assistant nurse in Friern Barnet hospital, during a student vacation. Must have been 1958. I was on 2 wards, one for old ladies and the other for younger women. One of the younger ones gave me a hug one day and one of the other nurses shouted "don't let her hug you - she's got syphilis!"
Many of the others used to have insulin coma therapy, or were given largactil - horrible taste and smell. To calm them I suppose.
Also a lot of Jews, survivors from the Holocaust.

Definitely Sally Army, |Over study of religion - how much is too much? and Political Excitement - mind you, that does explain Donald Trump, Maggie, Tony Blair and Bojo!

Many years ago i had a job as secretary to the superintendent of our local asylum. I used to spend my lunch hours looking at the old records. Huge books, beautiful copper plate writing with a page for every patient. It was fascinating in a shocking way the reasons why people were admitted in the first place.
Name age height ( and as a matter of interest not one man was taller than 5'7,) weight was recorded too and when they died the word expired with the date was written in large copper plate with a very fancy capital e.

The institution was closed years ago, i hope those volumes were kept as they show how much attitudes have changed, though there is still a long way to go before mental health is seen on a par with physical.

Novel Reading!?!?!?! I'm definitely doomed.

'Novel reading' - is that a noun or adjective? Better put 50 Shades away!

Oh boy! I'm in on 15 counts. No wonder people kept a stiff upper lip!

Disgruntled, keeping a stiff upper lip might be grounds in itself!

Nanasam

They have Salvation Army in the US....

But Novel Reading? Maybe it was the penny dreadfuls or similar.

This is odd... if you click on the link... Kilbride was a Quaker and felt that people should not be locked up, chained to the wall. So I think the list was for therapy treatment vs lock-them-up, meaning treatment and restore them to a normal life. Still, the symptoms list is extensive. I did not that unwed mothers or pregnancy was not on there, or did I miss it?

www.trans-alleghenylunaticasylum.com/main/history3a.html

The poor woman whose incarceration was due to 'masturbation for 30yrs' would probably have needed treatment for repetitive strain injury as well ?

Reading novels - ooooh yes, the circulating library was considered a sure route to the debauchment of the young.

" Sir Anthony — 'Madam, a circulating library in a town is as an evergreen tree of diabolical knowledge,—it blossoms through the year! And depend on it, Mrs. Malaprop, that they who are so fond of handling the leaves will long for the fruit at last'."

Mind, you, the early novels were of the bodice-ripper type. They became "literature" only in retrospect. Maybe the novels led to the masturbation?

Nanna58. ???

haven't had such a good laugh for yonks!!!!! Thankyou!!

How times change, thank goodness for that, I am Epileptic so would have been incarcerated for that reason alone never mind several others. I did have a laugh though.

I wonder how they knew someone was 'supressing masturbation'?

Everyone should read The Ballroom by Anna Hope, great book( based on the asylum at Menston, West Yorkshire.)

Maybe they had that confused look of the emoji Ana

I'm a regular at the Menston Asylum, roses -fortunately they let me out afterwards. It's one of my regular walks with the grandsons (the whole estate's being converted for residential use) and DGS2 had his birthday party in the social club there recently. I think the bouncy castle was a new addition.

I visited someone the family knew in there, in the 1950's Maggie but as I was a child just remember a forbidding looking building.

The residents ( men) were playing cricket at the time, a hot Summer.

I wouldn't like to live there after it's converted, but I suppose some people wouldn't mind.

Our "local" asylum was in Hatton, near Warwick and many politically-incorrect comments were made about any school kids who came from Hatton.
Today it is quite a swanky housing development but like rosearered I wouldn`t like to live there - too much sadness in those walls

I've said the same, about not wanting to live there. Though there are two lovely gatehouses well away from the other buildings, at the two entrances. I was once talking to DH about how attractive one was as we were passing when DGS2, just two years old, piped up that he didn't like the house, it was very scary. It sent shivers up my spine!