University Missourian. [volume] (Columbia, Mo.) 1908-1916, 1910-07-21
EMP L0YMENT AZURE
FOR INSANE PERSONS
Useful Occupations Are to
be Inmates of Hospital
at Nevada.
PURPOSE IS NOT PROFIT
W.T.. Cross. Secretary Board
of Charities and Correc-
tons. Directing Work.

yesterday TO visit State Hospital No.
). The last legislature appropriated
$1,000 for the erection OF a special
industrial building AT the Nevada Hos
pital, and it is Tor the purpose OF con
Suiting and deciding upon the plans of
construction that Mr.. Cross goes to
Nevada. Work On the building will
b"gla Immediately.
There are 1913 patients at the Ne
vada hospital. and of this number $50
ae capable OF being taught occupa-
tons which will be of service to the
state and at the same time be means
toward restoring their mental faculties
Patients Will he taught to make shoes.
10 weave baskets. ana 10 make brooms.
Carton county, i'll which the hospital is
located. produces greater amount OF
broom corn than any other county in
Missouri. ana hence the raw material
Will be readily avallahie.
Has Visited in East.
Mr.. Cross recently returned from n
trip TO many of the Eastern states.
AS special representative OF the State
Board OF Charities and Corrections. in
company with J. W. Lamson, super
intanlnnt nT III, N,ynI, institution b.,
visited hospitals for the insane in New
York, Massachusetts and other states.
and some OF the modern methods OF
caring for patients in the institutions
visited will be adopted in the Missouri
hospitals.
1t is not the purpose OF the boaId OF
managers of the Nevada institution to
make a business profit from the en-
ployment OF the patients. or to put the
product of their labor on the market
Ii will be utilized at the institution
Employment Benefits Insane.
1T is the consensus Of opinion of the
leading alienists that nearly all in
sane patients could be Employed said
Mr.. Cross. today, and that in this lies
restoring them to a normal mental con-
dtion. Occupation is the coming Cos
ipel for the solution, in large measure.
of the problem Of insanity. The pos
sibiIities in this line OF treatment have
never been fathomcd. So lar as tried
it has been found Of especial benefit
with the patients of the acute type of
insanity.
AT the Cook county, Illinois, asylum
an attendant was teaching an awkward
man patient to twist rough basket
and as he sat silently struggling, she
said to him: DO you like this?' TC
which ne responded with the sudden
abruptneSS which charact2riZes pa
tients usually silent. My God, yes
Anything is better than sitting idl,
all day in the wards This man was
typical 1t is the general custom fol
patients TO be allowed TO sit around
silent, preoccupied, brooding over fan
cied troubles with a diseased mind
and drifting farther from the state OF
a mentally rational being. The new
doctrine employment at construct
i've. purposeful task. is destined t.
wonderfully improve this condition and
IcustOp.
Right on this point" said Mr.. Cross
here is the opinion of DR.. Adolf Meyer
late head of the Psychiatrlc institute
of New York, and recently appointed
head Of The Johns Hopkins University
Psychiatric wards in Baltimore: Dur
ing the last decade we have come tc
realize more than ever that while some
mental disorders are due to toxic con
ditiOns. others are rather due to con
flcts through poor adaptation. In
these conditions, a training in norma
activities and cultivation of fruitful
interests are the sanest and only eff
cient point of attack. Occupations il
our hospitals have so far been limited
largely to housekeeping and carpet
making, but only a few things adapted
to rouse a constructive interest which
may be carried into the home as re
creation and relief from routine. II
stands to reason that an hour or twC
spent at some interesting work may re
lieve brain from the perpetual and
| fruitless grind of Worry or of day
dreaming; it brings contact with q
sane teacher and new outlooks.'
1t is the purpose of the managers at
Nevada hospital to introduce many OF
the handicrafts in giving occupation tC
the patients, such as basket-weaving
leatherworking, etc.
To keep stock in good condition and