May 25, 2017

Lunatics, Imbeciles and Idiots A History of Insanity

        ***


Lunatics, Imbeciles and Idiots A History of Insanity in the 19th Century Britan and Ireland
By: Kathryn M. Burtinshaw and John R.F. Burt

This book gives very detailed information concerning the formation of various types of facilities in which insane persons could be housed, from workhouses, gaols [jails], “mad” houses, asylums, and the best of them being called “retreats'.

The book can also be a valuable resource for genealogists searching for an ancestor who “disappeared” from the family tree and is no longer listed on mainstream sources. The book lists several official registers for Lunatic/Insane Asylums that can be used to search for that “lost” ancestor.
*Patient names are not listed for public view until 100 years have passed, for patient privacy.

Although today, the terms lunatic, imbecile and idiot seem harsh, they were the terms used regularly by professionals and lay people alike to label people with mental health disorders. These WERE the professional medical terms and were not intended to be derogatory, hateful or hurtful.

Prior to the early 19th century people with mental health disorders were most often hidden at home, chained up in attics/basements, in prisons or workhouses and were treated as wild animals – not as humans. It was only in the 19th century that authorities began the difficult task of ensuring these people were institutionalized, provided shelter, cared for humanely as people and treatment options sought.

The first facilities were often horrendous and it took many decades, even centuries, for improvement to occur.

The book describes the horror and inhumane treatment these people were subject to and the dire need for the repeated enactment of new laws to prevent such cruelty. During unannounced inspections, patients had been found naked, filthy, strapped to beds laying in days (or weeks) of excrement, chained to walls, no water in the facility, starved. There was an incident during such inspection that a corpse was found in one room of over 20 men, and next door in a women's room, a woman was found holding her child who had died many days previous – to the point the child's body was putrid from decomposition.

The book is written very factual, it reads like one of my college Psychology text books. The case studies of actual patients brought home the reality that these WERE real people, not just a story in a book. I enjoyed this book, but it did take me over a week to complete.

I would recommend the book to those interested in Psychology and or Genealogy.

Thank you netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Review posted on amazon, goodreads, netgalley and moonshineartspot.blogspot



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