The DISTURBING History of Asylums & Mental Health

The persecution and mistreatment of the mentally ill throughout history is truly horrifying.

At age 19 my mother had electric shock therapy and was put in a padded cell. In her later years I took care of her needs, no hospitals for her and she died peacefully in her bed. I have no regrets, she took care of me and it was my turn to do the same. She had been mental ill for as long as I could remember, when she lost my little brother at age of 8 she died herself that day, I think she became my daughter and I her mom. Either way we had love and a special bond, I still miss her, but I know she is at peace.

When I was diagnosed with autism, according to Mom, someone at my school suggested that I be admitted to a mental institution but both Mom and Dad, encouraged by my maternal grandma, understood that love and understanding was needed which I completely agree with since such places only made mental health worse and today I'm high functioning and much improved

And people wonder why so many with mental illnesses are unwiling to seek treatment. For so mental health treatment was seen as something to be hidden, and the asylums were little more than dumping grounds for families to dispose of relatives who were either not wanted or seen as an embarrasment. It's even more tragic that for so many being sent to an asylum ammounted to a death sentence.

As someone who went through severe episodes of depression, for which I still have to take meds to this day, I'm baffled by how society accepts physical illnesses but somehow, the concept of the brain (after all the most conpex organ) getting sick is still abstract and hard to accept.

I have a great grandmother that had post-partum after having my grandfather. A year later, she had a second son that died shortly after birth. Obviously her postpartum was worse this time. She was put into an asylum one month later due to depression. She had electroshock therapy repeatedly and while they don’t have records, the hospital was known for lobotomies. She died there seven years later. Every single time I think about it, I get sad for her and angry all over again.

Fun fact: electroconvulsive therapy (shock treatment) is still used in mental health institutes to this day

"Expel the evil from within" is such an elegant way to say "poop" 😃

My great great grandmother died in the Milledgeville Insane Asylum. She'd suffered severe physical abuse for years by the man who owned her. He bashed her head one day and she lost her mind. Heartbreaking. I can clearly imagine the torture she endured in the asylum. Her name was Emma, may she R.I.P

As someone with high functioning Asperger's, im super glad to have never been to these institutions

My great aunt was born autistic and mildly cognitively disabled, to a family with six other kids, during the Great Depression. Her parents bucked the trend of dumping disabled children into institutions and kept her at home, where she belonged. The family faced a lot of pressure from ‘helpful’ people who really just didn’t want to see a disabled person in public, people who all but demanded that Aunt Kathy be institutionalised. Aunt Kathy lived with her sister, my grandmother, when her parents passed on, and she lived with other family until her later years, when she developed very brittle diabetes and had to go into a nursing home for her own safety. The family made sure that they chose a good one, visited often, and asked Aunt Kathy if she liked living there frequently. She had a much better life than most in her situation. I was born autistic in the 70s. My parents likewise wouldn’t hear of institutionalising me. I’m an autistic adult. I work, I drive, I had a good education in typical Canadian schools, and I am now Mum’s caregiver now that she has Parkinson’s. Autistic lives are still terribly devalued in our society, but thankfully it isn’t as bad as it was in the 1930s.

I'm happy for the improvements, but anyone who's been in a psych ward or hospital will tell you it's still really bad.

Having been to several mental hospitals myself, I cant see the point of locking someone up, and taking away personal freedoms. How is that supposed to help anything? Valid question, I think.

I went to a mental health clinic back in 2017 because I had a mental breakdown from my home life and school bullying. And honestly, I'd rather die than go back to any clinic for mental health, and no I'm not exaggerating. I was only there for a week but even then it felt suffocating, lonely, and just plain awful. It felt like I was stuck in a prison and I wanted to go home so badly that I cried and missed my parents. I got diagnosed with anxiety and depression there and it got worse because of me having all my basic rights removed. I couldn't even have a fucking pencil or paper to write a letter to my boyfriend, I had to essentially earn the right to use them. I was kept from visiting my family and bf, and I was locked away in the building unless I was let outside, and they could only visit for 15 minutes every few days. It didn't help that the other patients were suffering just as much as I was and everyone was miserable.

I don't see how the people that performed lobotomies could sleep at night after performing that procedure.

Quakers ,a special breed of people.they did great work all over Ireland. They were great innovators and inventors.From breweries, windmill and factories ,all indigenous.A hard act to follow.✌️🇮🇪☘️

It became a horrifying attraction for latent sadists to practice their vicious impulses and fantasies on the helpless. My God, the history of psychiatry and institutions that housed the insane is more horrifying than even the illnesses they proposed to be relieving. It has gotten considerably better. I know, because I am chronically mentally ill and have been since my youth, and I have improved substantially. I'm very grateful for my caregivers and professional support staff.

Let's be grateful that humanity has advanced so far to provide these people with the necessary care.

I have a mental disorder (BPD) and people with my disorder are still subjected to some pretty hardcore discrimination. Even from medical professionals. Luckily, i have a proper wonderful psychologist and some fantastic friends. The BPD + my epilepsy would have put me in some of these dark places around these dark people if i was born in earlier times. Even though its still hard now, im so happy about living in our times. Not before. Ufff.

As someone who has family members with d1sabilities, worked with minors & teenagers with such conditions & watched many different documentaries about that topic... That's why it's a very touching one for me & I like the fact that you are talking about the different perspectives on this topic. Especially mentioning the supernatural superstitions with the Djinns & Witches... Good job❣️ 👏 👍