Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1882-05-04
EXPERIMENTS WITH INSANE.

DR.. Dewey, Of the state asylum for
the insane at Kankakee, was in Chicago
Yesterday, and in conversation with a
reporter for the Times gave an interest
ing description of the experiment that
has been inaugurated there in the man
agement of patients. The plans to sur
round them, rs far as possible, with
/ domestic Safeguards keep them EN-
! ployed and remove the barriers which
operate so irritatingly on patients
mind, and to promote social intercourse
where it can be safely done. Various
| features of the plan have been tried in
! England, and in this country in the
government hospital at Washington.
The domestic surroundings have also
been carried into effect on small scale
at Middleton, Conn, and at Elgin, but
as far as is known Kankakee is the only
place where all the features have been
combined on a large scale, and the pro-
gress Of the experiment there is likely
to have important results in the opinion
of medical experts.
About eighteen months ago three de
tachcd wards, or cottages, were put on
the asylum grounds as much like an or
binary dwelling house as they could be
made. Two of them, in which the
more quiet patients are kept, are not
locked The buildings are two stories
high and while not entirely tlre proof.
afford easy means of escape in case of
fire. Instead of dividing them into
small wards, large dolmitories were
constructed, in which the patients sleep.
Meals are served in one large dining
room in the central cottage, at stated
hours when all the patients are brought
together. This has proved one of the
most valuable features in giving the pa
tents decree of freedom while bring
ing them in contact with one another
a large amount of work has been done
by the patients inlayingo out the grounds
and cultivating the farm, rs well as
choring and other work, under the di-
rection of the attendants. About 60 per
cent. are kept employed in this way.
In the eighteen months since the cot
tage system was put into operation the
number of patients occupying them has
been between eighty and one hundred
The degree of freedom allowed natur-
ally makes Il well-trained force of atten-
dants necessary, and they are provided
in the proportion of one to every ten pa
tients. So we'll has the system worked
under the watchtul care of the atten-
dantS that not a single serious acct lent
nor suicide has happened, nor has any
injury been inflicted by the patients on
one another. The more quiet patients
act rs restraining force on the more
active and mischievous. The plan has
also been beneficial in the influence ex-
erted on the untidy and disacreeable by
contact with their neighbors whose
habits are unobiectionable.
Speaking Of the freedom allowed, DR.
Dewey said it might be supposed that
where so little restraint is imposed, an
asylum is unnecessary, and the patients
could be cared for by their friends
But the opposite is the fact. The value
OF the method pursued at Kankakee, is
in determining the precise amount of
supervision necessary, and keeping the
patients within definite limits, some
thing which is found impossible where
private care is relied upon. 1t is not TO
be understood that the numerous cases
of violent insanity are expected to be
cured by pursuing this method, Yet in
encouraging results. The patients are
placed under the care of separate atten-
dants, and the constant source of irri-
ton which barriers furnish is done away
with. The main cause of discomfort re-
moved, the patients desire for mischief
is curbed.
In following out the plan of eXercis-
ing as little restraint rs possible there
have been eases in which patients have
taken advantage of their liberty to es-
cape from the grounds, and one or two
cases of newly developed affection be-
tween the opposite sexes have resulted
in elopements. But the majority of the
escaped inmates have either returned TO
the asylum or been taken care of by their
friends. The present number of patients
at Kankakee is thIse hundred. one hun
bred being femaleS \ second group of
cottages is in course of construction for
the male patients, and it is expected
that by the time of the next session of
the legislature the female group will
also be completed The method pur-
sued has proved saving to the state
from an economical point of view, the
cost per capita not having exceeded $500,
while it is ordinarily 81 900. The design
has been to group the buildin in the
form Of villages, and the favorable To-
cation and isolated situation of the asy-
lum grounds. on The kankakee river,
have given the experiment a fine field,
which DR. Dewey believes will justify the
expectations of the medical experts in
the ultimate results. - Chicago Times.