Daily Kennebec journal., 1894-09-12
INSANE ASYLUMS.
CAN THE UNFORTUNATE HAVE Bet
TER CARE THAN AT HOME7
Interesting Article on the Advantages Of
Hospitals For Those Who Lose Their
! Minds - Trouble From Trying to Get
Along With Lunatics at Home.


, Minds Trouble From Trying to Get
Along With Lunatics at Home.
The following mastery and interesting
article, written by DIR. Joseph j. O'Con
nell, examiner Of the insane for the de-
bartment Of charities and correction, upon
.'Asylums as the Proper Place For the
Treatment Of Alienation of the Mind"
was published in the New York Medical
Journal DR. O'Connell is one Of Brook
lyn's rising physicians:
Practitioners are often called upon to
treat patients with diseased minds and are
then confronted with this problem: Is
asylum treatment moro beneficial, or can
they be treated and receive equally good
care at homer take tho liberty Of an
swering this question from my experience
as examiner Of the insane for the depart
ment Of charities and correction in Kings
county, in which capacity have commit
ted some 4 600 or 5000 persons to asylums
in New York md vicinity.
The Institutions in this state, both pri-
vate ard pGDlle are under the jurisdic
tion Of tine sfate commission in lunacy,
and The first Important step in the ad-
vancemlnt of Tho treatment Of the insane
dates from the time when commissioners
were appointed to supervise the manage
ment of these institutions. A few years
ago any person, whether physician or lay
man, citizen or foreigner, could establish
retreat for the insane and employ what
ever treatment he pleased with the unfor
tunates who came under his charge, and
it was not always so much question as
Ito the recoveries affected as it was as to
how long could the patient be retained
under the plea of insanity-whle the rev
ienuo came in.
The amount Of room allowed to each in
mate or the number over which each at
tendant should have charge was never
considered. If patients were not over
crowded, it was due quite as much to the
lack Of demand for the extra space which
they temporarily enjoyed as to the. good
Judgment of tho person in charge. With
but few exceptions tho state and county
institutions wcro no better governed. The
supcrintendcntS and subordinatos were
not selected on account Of their fitness for
the positions, but were appointed through
political influence / am pleased to say
that at tho present day the public and pri-
vate asylums in New York state are equal
to if not better than any others in the
world.
The state commission does not grant
permission to any individual to conduct n
private asylum unless it is in charge of a
physician who has had considerable eX-
,pcrienco in tho treatment of the insane
and who is well qualified to manage such
an institution. These asylums are licensed
for u limited number of persons in order
that each may receive proper attention and
have proper accommodations. The food
must be of the best quality, and sanitary
requirements arc very eXacting. Asylums
arc in tho treatment of the insane what
hospitals arc to the sick--in fact, they are
a combination of hospital and home.
Tho insane arc very cunning. They
often know that their ideas differ from
those of the persons with whom they con-
verse; that they are alone in their belief,
and for that reason, when questioned by
physicians or Others, will not answer ac-
cording to their belief, but in accordance
with the ideas of the questioner. At home
tho family feeling toward them is well
known to them; they will refuse to do as
those in attendance may Aqucst and will
impose upon tho good nature of their rela-
tivos. If the physician recommends GER
tain work for them to occupy their timo
and to divert their minds from the subject
Oh IDclT lilalii,OF III Walks db CtTtdlH nUurS
of the day arc advised they feel that their
movements are closely watched and it Is
useless to try to convince them to the CON
trary. II these simple recommendations
cannot be carried out at home, how can
any systematic treatment bo given with
out the use of force? And the continued
use of force with tho insane so affects tho
nervous system as to render ultimate re
/, nj m m nrinp nj
rulo to be followed Is that the insane must
be led and not drivon.
The estimate entertained of the insane
by the public ronders it an enemy to asy-
lums They are supposed to be IA wild set
confined In u building like wild animals,
who are restrained at night by chains or
by some other means; that the mild and
the violent are placed together and that
the latter arc always ready to pounce upon
Others when they approach them.
1t should DO considered that the insane
are classified; that on entering an asy-
lum they are placed in receiving ward
for severaldlvs in order that their form of
insanity niay nc studied by tho physician
in charre Ehey are then transferred to
wards sui asidc for the treatment of their
special meHtIl disorder, and as they inn
prove It's urn gradually advanced. The
erroheous idel Of asylums entertained by
the public, MS l have stated, prevents the
incarceration of many of the so called
cranks who arc allowed to roam at large.
Their relatives think they are not fit sub
jects for asylums because they offer no Vi
olence to the family and do not break fur
nituro or tear clothes, but only go about
ventilating their hobbies whenever they
can find u listener. More harm has come
from this class of people during the past
few years than from any other class of in
sane. The attacks upon a banker in New
York and upon the late mayor of Chicago
are still fresh in the minds of the public.
In both eases the progress of the disease
was slow, but SO well marked that the pc
culiar actions and ideas of the individuals
were known to the relatives and friends
months prior to the commission of their
crimes.
1t must not be forgotten that insanity
Is often communicated from one member
of the family to another when there is
hereditary basis for its development. In
such families prompt action is necessary.
Two cases illustrating this came under
my notice as examiner of tho insane. One
Lnt - x,riAp t, had hapr,