New Britain herald., 1918-04-23

was fOund tnat IN only one country
in the state outside of greater New
York was any organized provision
made for temporary hospital care and
skilled observation Of nursing, In
greater New York provision for the
temporary hospital treatment Of men
tai cases was furnished at Bellevue
and at the Kings County Hospitals.
More than half of the patients re-
ceived at these hospitals were brought
in by the police. In, the portion of
he state outside the metropolitan
district, seventy five per cent. of the
patents admitted to the state hospi-
tails in the first year covered by the
study were brought directly from
their homes, and it was found that, of
these, fifteen per cent, OF 40 per
sons during the first year covered by
the study, had suffered from gross
neglect or unintelligent harsh treat
ment. Some of, these instances were
as follows: Cd A woman was brought
from her home where she had been
in a disturbed state. She had been
held in bed by a network of ropes,
her ankles bound together, her knees,
strapped and mittens on her hands.
The patient died a few hours after ad-
mission and an autopsy disclosed q
rupture OF the SlOIldC1l. ~ "A WOlIld1
was found at home where she was
fastened in a chair by a sheet tied
about her and nailed to the wall She
was confined in the room with her
husband who was dying of pneumonia.
The chair in which she sat was nailed
to the floor. The doors of the room
were nailed up at night. She was
dressed in an undervest and mems
trousers, and had been bound hand
and foot in bed for few days before
she was transferred to the hospital,
Many other instances could be cited. |
More than seventeen per cent. of the
patients, or 466 persons, received dur
ing the same period, at the state
hospitals from this portion of the |
state, were found in jails lockups, |
and police stations Eighty-seven Of
these patients were women. The rea-
sons for combining the patients in these
places were not always apparent from
the reports in some instances they
were said to have been violent or
otherwise dangerous, but others ap-
peared to have merely been wanderers |
or to have shown eccentric behavior
Or expressed decisions in public.
Many of these patients were found
in unsanitary, uncomfortable, some
times filthy and vermin infested cells.
not infrequently in company with per-
sons accused Of crime In one in
stance the patient was found in the /
same room with a person accused of |
murder and developed a delusion that
she herself was accused Of the crime. |
In another a woman was found in a /
basement cell, without windows, with |
no toilet facilities, and separated only |
by slat door from the quarters Of !
ofS
times received what care was given |
from prisoners, or they were found in |
common room with drunkards and |
tramps. In Jail in one of the larger !
cities of the state, a woman was !
found by the nurse in a cell which !
was SO small that she could scarcely |
sit up in it. There were no toilet |
facilities accessible to her and she /
was entirely naked and extremely |
filthy and dirty In a police station |
two male patients were found con-
fined in a eoX-li>e structure With |
board sides and an iron grated top, !
hinged and fastened with two locks.
When the top was closed, the patient
could not rise from the recumbent |
position, and as he lay there, the dis
tance between his chest and the bars
of the ton was only six inches. An
other patient was found in a cell which
was not heated though the weather
was cold. He was insufficiently clad |
and was so i'll that he died two days
after admission to the hospital In |
a large number of instances, the re- l
port states, women were confined in
station houses and lockups without |
attendance by persons of their own
sex One insane woman was entirely
nude in a cell and there was no one
to wait on her except a man who |
handed her food in.
ITO appreciate the significance Of
these methods of dealing with persons
suffering from mental disorders, it is
necessary to keep clearly in mind
that they were found to prevail
one of the most progress
sive of the states in the care of the |
insane, in which an excellent system !
of state care had been in operation |
for nearly twenty years. This system |
was, however. devoted practically al
together to furnishing institutional |