A History of Insanity and the Asylum

The History of Insanity and the Asylum written by Julianna Cummings and published by Pen & Sword Books - £25 - Hardback - Pages 232

The iconic image of the lunatic asylum is one that often leaves us wondering

what went on inside these imposing buildings.

In this new book, Juliana Cummings first questions what behaviours and characteristics define insanity and leads us through a comprehensive history of insanity and the asylum from the early treatment and care of mental illness in the Middle Ages and early modern period through to the closure of mental institutions in the twentieth century.

Throughout the years, we learn of how the treatments and institutional structures for caring for the mentally ill-developedand changed. The Age of Enlightenment and the rise of humanitarian reform was followed by the emergence of the insane asylum in the 1800s, which saw the beginning of the widespread construction of asylums.

We explore the different reasons for admittance, as well as the vast array of treatments. It shows that your treatment as an inmate of an asylum could vary depending on your gender and your social class.

Although once thought of as criminals, the mentally ill were gradually treated with care. Juliana discusses the different treatments used over time as attitudes towards the mentally ill changed, such as drug use, psychosurgery and insulin therapy. We learn of the regulations and reforms that led to the closure of asylums, how their closure affected society and consider how the mentally ill are treated today.

This insightful new history helps us to better understand the haunting past of the asylum and leads us down a fascinating road to where we come to an understanding of a time in history that is often mistaken.

This was a fascinating book in which we look at the history of the asylum system, looking at the buildings, the treatments of insanity and reasons for putting people in asylums. Also the book goes back in time to the early Middle Ages time in history, and the book goes right through to the late 20th century when thankfully society has decided to leave the days of the asylum go by.

What emerges from the book is the number of reasons for going into an asylum, often without choice for the person deemed mad. Plus some of the reasons why they were in there are so lose if not criminal, the book also covers the subject of treatment, and along with the introduction of drugs some treatments could vary from being completely spaced out to more sinister things like electric shock treatment or cases where humans were just experimented on. Luckily, society has a more grown up attitude to mental health these days and we have moved on from such draconian ways. This was a really fascinating book, in which there was lots of research and the book was well written and easy to understand, so compliments to the author Julianna Cummings. An ideal book if your are interested in mental health, and might be a bit surprising for those who know little about this subject.

A History of London County Lunatic Asylums & Mental Hospitals

A History of London County Lunatic Asylums & Mental Hospitals written by

Ed Brandon and published by Pen & Sword Books - £16.99 - Softcover - Pages 224

From the Middle Ages onwards, London’s notorious Bedlam lunatic hospital saw the

city’s ‘mad’ locked away in dank cells, neglected and abused and without any real cure

and little comfort. The unprecedented growth of the metropolis after the Industrial

Revolution saw a perceived ‘epidemic’ of madness take hold, with ‘county asylums’

seen by those in power as the most humane or cost-effective way to offer the mass

confinement and treatment believed necessary.

The county of Middlesex – to which London once belonged – would build and open three huge county asylums from 1831, and when London became its own county in 1889 it would adopt all three and go on to build or run another eight such immense institutions. Each operated much like a self-contained town; home to thousands and often incorporating its own railway, laundries, farms, gardens, kitchens, ballroom, sports pitches, surgeries, wards, cells, chapel, mortuary, and more, in order to ensure the patients never needed to leave the asylum’s grounds.

Between them, at their peak London’s eleven county asylums were home to around 25,000 patients and thousands more staff, and dominated the physical landscape as well as the public imagination from the 1830s right up to the 1990s. Several gained a legacy which lasted even beyond their closure, as their hulking, abandoned forms sat in overgrown sites around London, refusing to be forgotten and continuing to attract the attention of those with both curious and nefarious motives.

Hanwell (St Bernard’s), Colney Hatch (Friern), Banstead, Cane Hill, Claybury, Bexley, Manor, Horton, St Ebba’s, Long Grove, and West Park went from being known as ‘county lunatic asylums’ to ‘mental hospitals’ and beyond. Reflecting on both the positive and negative aspects of their long and storied histories from their planning and construction to the treatments and regimes adopted at each, the lives of patients and staff through to their use during wartime, and the modernisation and changes of the 20th century, this book documents their stories from their opening up to their eventual closure, abandonment, redevelopment, or destruction.

This book looks at the various Asylums and Mental hospitals in and around London, the book looks at the history, reasons why we have them, how they were run, some of the treatments and care procedures that took place and finally some of the more well known cases that come from these hospitals. As I’m sure most people will know, people with mental health problems have never really had the best or most suitable help and care, always left near the bottom of the pile for concern. This subject always tends to be a bit grim reading, but what I enjoyed most about this book was the fact that the majority of the book is based around the hospitals with a number of patient stories thrown in, but I enjoyed the fact that the book was more about the hospitals and the way it was run. A fascinating book and one that people who like a bit of grim reading will enjoy.