The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1903-02-22
IS Too Easy to Put People in
an Asylum Now,
DIR. FOSTER EMPHATIC
UPON THAT SUBJECT
He Says Phthisis Is Increasing and limo.
ent People Are the Sufferers From
the Arrangement ofthe Hospit-
als-Too Strenuous Life
Often Causes Insanity.

Inc statement recently made in the
Senate that insanity is largely on the
increase in Virginia has aroused much
interest. In q letter on this subject SUI
perintendeni L. S. Foster. Of the East
=rn State Hospital. says:
Deg to say that my observation at
his hospital for the past four years has
not been such as to convince me that
here Is any very great Increase In In
sanity beyond what might be expected
WITH q growing population. In tho re-
port OF the superintendent of this hos.
pitals for the fiscal years ending tha.30th
or september, 1855. there was remaining
at the close Of his report 525 patients,
"hlle the average present during tho year
was 2Sl. On the fourth of January, 1902
sthe morning of the flre). we had in this
hospital S63, an Increase In population OF
ss. for little more than three years.
as far as my memory serves me did
not have an application on file at that
time. There Is no occasion for alarm In
Virginia. While insanity is increasing,
the population is also on the increase.
and the increase In this disease ls not
proportonately larger than In other
States. II Will be some timc before an
other hospital will be needed II the prop
sr provision Is made at the white hos
pltal for the eptleptlcs and consumptives.
That is. To give each of these hospitals
separate building for this class OF pa
tents. as stated In my last report.
SPREAD OF PHTHISIS.
Phthisis is spreading daily. and lie forced
1pon innocent and helpless people by be-
ing compelled. as our hospitals are now
arranged. to confine them In the Same
yards with those suffering from this dis
Base.
In addition to making this necessary
provision, would refer you to the sug-
Bestion made In my report OF October
|, 1889, in which I stated st was too easy
matter under the present forms Of law
20 commit person to an insane hospital.
Ind In my opinion great safeguards
should be thrown around the Individuals s
liberty 5fs5; 4 ~
After a patient has been committed to
hospital there are only two ways be-
Edes death to get rid OF him: one Is to
discharge him II restored to sanity, and
the other is to get some relative to take
him out on furlough.
There are some patients In every hos
pital who are quiet and tractable, dis
turb no one. but we cannot get a friend
or relative to take him and the conse-
quence Is we have to keep him.
MUST TAKE THEM.
These help to keep out some who ought
% receive treatment. We have applica-
Hons for admission of persons from 70
10 90 years of age. suffering from senile
1ementia, with no hope of recovery, and
II we have room, we must take them.
These crowd out many that ought to be
treated in the acute stage when the
.hances OF recovery are so much more
favorable In my opinion the causes
nation. to produce insanity are too siren
uous life. overworked or overtaxed body
and brain. impaired physical health, trou-
BILE, anxiety, and might mention score
Of others,
The crowded condition Of the Eastern
State Hospital !s due to the fire OF last
winter which destroyed one of our larg-
est buildings. and might add that this
had something to do with the congested
condition of the other two hospitals, as
many from this section have applied and
been received in both Of these hospitals.
DR. RlDEJARNETrE WRITES.
Dr. J, D. DeJarnette. assistant physl-
SIAN In the Western State Hospital at
Staunton, Writes as follows.
me question of an increase Of In
'anity IN Virginia has been recently dis
eussed both In the press and the Legis-
Nture Of the State. It isitnot an easy
matter to decide whether there has been
uch increase. or If so. what has been
iils ,rauo. The only available criterion
+ hospitals for the insane for term of
years. And even these are pretty sure
70 De misleading when handled by one
VINO IS not familiar with all their de-
talls. For instance, the annual reports
o. Oh Lne lou iour hospitals show that from
1895 to 1902 there were 4CO7 annlica tions
tor admission into them, OF which only
ha3o were actually admitted. The nat
g 1ral Inference from these figures would
ethat there are now 1 1857 insane person. ,, .
at large In the State or In its iails' whinh
Is absurd $500 ""'s'' !" ""'s''
The explanation is that the list or ~.
pllcatlons received, but rejected durinp
The course Of n year are, at its cIoss
transferred to tho records of the suc,
ceeding year; and from this 1t would an.
pear that during the biennial period thera
We're two applicants for Admission,
while In reality the applicant in both
cases was one and the same person. Arnin
It may happen that an application nav
be made In succession to each OF tho
three hospitals for white insane, and be-
Ing entered OIL the records OF each OF
them their annual reports would show
apparently thatlhere We're three separate
applicants where In fact there was only
one.i Thus In 1898 there We're 622 and in
1909 there We're 500 applicants for admis-
sion into the white hospitals, an appnr.
ent increase of n, But this Is misleading,
for the reason that after tho fire at
Williamsburg many of the insane from
that section of the State applied for adj
mission first to the Eastern and then
to the Western hospital, each man or
woman thus appearing as two on the
i P d N