The Oskaloosa herald., 1914-12-17
IN UNITED STATES

Is insanity in the United States on
the increase? This question is dis
cussed by DR.. Joseph A. Hill in the
Government report on the insane III
institutions, soon to be issued by VIM
j. Harris, Director of the Census, in
! the Department OF Commerce. That
There has been an enormous increase
IN the number OF insane under insti
tutiopaG care is made evident by the
statistics presented in this report
but for reasons there set forth, this in
! itself cannot be regarded as conclus.
i've proof of an increase of insanity
in the general population outside of
institutions
The number of insane reported in
institutions increased from 150.151 in
| 1904 to 1S7, ,791 in 1910--an increase
/ of % per cent in six years. The total
population of the United States il
| the same interval increased only Il
iper cent. Therefore the insane I'M in
Istitutions Increase twice as fact as
the population. In 1904, out of every
100000 persons in the total popula-
| ton, 1874 we're reported in institutions
for the insane; by 1910 the number
had increased to 204. In other words,
! in 1904. one person out O. every 543
was confined TO an institution for the
Insane; in 1910, one person out of ey-
iery 400 There was similarly mark
ed increase in the number of annual
admissions to these institutions, Co.
796 persons having been admitted in
1910, as compared with 1882 in 1904,
an increase OF % per cent. The num-
Der of admissions per 100000 popuIa-
ton Increased from 81 in 1904 to 66
lin 1910 ..s'
These increases are at least partly
attributable to the extension of the
provisions made for the care of in
sane persons and to the growth of
the practice of placing them in insti
buttons. There is an increasing dis
position and willingness on the part
.Of the public to- accept institutional
treatment. Theold-time horror OF the
lunatiC asylum, fully justified, per-
haps, by the inhuman practices form
.erly prevailing in such institutions,
has largely disappeared, and it is
coming TO be recognized that the
modern institution for the insane is
simply hospital for the treatment of
mental diseases,- fulfilling essentially
the same parpoSe in the community
as any other hospital for the sick.
In the interval between 1904 and 1910
the number of institutions for the in
sane increased from 1928 to 800, the
average number of inmates per insti-
tuition increasing from 458 to SIP.
There has been a popular impress
sion that the lonely isolation of cOun-
try. life is an important cause of in
sanity. The statistics however, indi-
cate that more insanity is caused by
stress, strain, keener competition, the
COngested housing conditions. and the
vice and dissipation of city life. In
proportion to population the number
Of inmates OF hospitals for the insane
received from urban communities is
twice as great as the number received
from rural districts. OF the 6O,7G9
persons admitted to insane hospitals
in 1910, 1864 came from cities, vii
lagos, or other Incorporated plates of
more than $500 inhabitants, while
2O,442 came from the smaller towns
or country districts, leaving 1913 for
whom the place of residence was not
reported. or more significance, how
ever. are the statistics showing the
number of admissions in proportion
to the total population of each class
of communities. From rural commu-
mites Al insane were admitted per
100000 population; from the urban
communities the ratio was Sc per
100, 200.