For as long as I can remember, I have always been fascinated by the history of the insane asylum. Aside from the sometimes barbaric treatment of patients in the asylums, I’ve discovered that there was a genuine longing to help these people. The asylum has always had such a dark image associated with it and while that may be true, I’ve always been keen on learning more about why things were done the way they were. I decided that one of the best ways for me to learn was to write about it myself and it taught me so much about the human condition, both good and bad.
I wrote
A History of Insanity and the Asylum: Not of Sound Mind
I recommend this book by Kate Moore as it gives a very personal account of what the asylum was like for a 19th-century housewife.
It is an excellent story of the strength and perseverance of Elizabeth Packard, who was forced into an insane asylum against her will. For simply being what many would consider bothersome or an inconvenience because she was an intelligent women, Elizabeth was sent to live in the asylum by the men in her life, including her husband.
I speak highly of Mrs. Packard in my book and reference the atrocities she had to face for simply being a woman.
From the New York Times, USA Today, and Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Radium Girls comes another dark and dramatic but ultimately uplifting tale of a forgotten woman hero whose inspirational journey sparked lasting change for women's rights and exposed injustices that still resonate today. 1860: As the clash between the states rolls slowly to a boil, Elizabeth Packard, housewife and mother of six, is facing her own battle. The enemy sits across the table and sleeps in the next room. Her husband of twenty-one years is plotting against her because he feels increasingly threatened-by Elizabeth's intellect, independence,…
I recommend this book by Edward Shorter because it was an invaluable tool in my research.
The author does an amazing job pulling together centuries of psychiatric history into a book that was very easy to understand. He goes into detail about different therapies used throughout history, the brilliant minds who brought everything together as well as what patients experienced in the asylum over the decades.
"PPPP ...To compress 200 years of psychiatric theory and practice into a compelling and coherent narrative is a fine achievement ...What strikes the reader [most] are Shorter's storytelling skills, his ability to conjure up the personalities of the psychiatrists who shaped the discipline and the conditions under which they and their patients lived."--Ray Monk The Mail on Sunday magazine, U.K. "An opinionated, anecdote-rich history...While psychiatrists may quibble, and Freudians and other psychoanalysts will surely squawk, those without a vested interest will be thoroughly entertained and certainly enlightened."--Kirkus Reviews. "Shorter tells his story with immense panache, narrative clarity, and genuinely deep…
Social Security for Future Generations
by
John A. Turner,
This book provides new options for reform of the Social Security (OASI) program. Some options are inspired by the U.S. pension system, while others are inspired by the literature on financial literacy or the social security systems in other countries.
An example of our proposals inspired by the U.S. pension…
I read An Inconvenient Wife years ago and it has always stuck with me.
As I dove into my research for my book, I reread this book and was just as impressed with it as I was the first time.
Lucy is the epitome of the upper-class New York Victorian woman but only if she bends to the will of her husband and physicians. It is a classic tale of yet another 19th-century woman forced into an asylum.
Lucy is subjected not only to medications but treatment for her “hysteria” which was the common diagnosis for most women in the asylum at the time. It was brilliantly researched and written!
- Literary historical fiction is an extremely popular genre, as demonstrated by such bestsellers as Matthew Pearl's The Dante Club (Random House, 2/03) and Michael Faber's The Crimson Petal and the White (Harcourt, 9/02).- Megan Chance is the author of
I personally recommend this book as it tells the story of one of the biggest asylums in the United States and it’s in my home state of Massachusetts.
Worcester State Hospital has since been torn down but at its time, it was the pinnacle of the ideal insane asylum. The hospital covered acres of the Central Massachusetts city with its working farms, landscaping, and Kirkbride architecture.
Worcester State Hospital was one of the models used for what the perfect asylum should be. This book tells of its history and includes stories of those who worked here. Sadly, all that remains is the clock tower which is an icon to those in the area.
The Worcester State Hospital offered a novel and compelling promise: that insanity could be cured by humane treatment in a therapeutic setting. Patients would enjoy its idyllic landscape, genteel interiors, wholesome food supplied from its farm, and the individualized attention of medical professionals. The hospital's reputation as a model institution helped to position the city of Worcester as an economic center and pioneer in social reform. Yet overcrowding, insufficient funds, and the limitations of medical knowledge undermined the institution's mission, leading to the abandonment of its original features. Despite downsizing and decay, the Worcester State Hospital continues to exert a…
Blood of the White Bear
by
Marcia Calhoun Forecki,
Virologist Dr. Rachel Bisette sees visions of a Kachina and remembers the plane crash that killed her parents and the Dine medicine woman who saved her life. Rachel is investigating a new and lethal hantavirus spreading through the Four Corners, and believes the Kachina is calling her to join the…
I am recommending this book by Mark Davis because it was such an intimate look at the West Riding Pauper Asylum, which I reference in my own book.
The stories are incredibly sad, but they greatly reflect on what life was like for these individuals. It also has some of the most beautiful photos I have seen.
I highly recommend it to anyone who is interested in this time period. I just wish the book was longer!
Almost forgotten by time, tucked away beyond the sight of the passerby, there is a little piece of old England, which was for many years a forgotten wilderness. If it were not for a weather-beaten plaque on the gatepost few would realise that beyond the rusted gates there lies, in unmarked paupers' graves, 2,861 former patients of the once formidable Menston Asylum.
To be admitted to a lunatic asylum in the nineteenth century was fraught with danger, and in many cases meant a life sentence hidden away from society. It is estimated as many as 30 per cent of the…
The iconic image of the lunatic asylum is one that often leaves us wondering what went on inside these imposing buildings.
In this new book, Juliana Cummings first questions what behaviours and characteristics define insanity and leads us through a comprehensive history of insanity and the asylum from the early treatment and care of mental illness in the Middle Ages and early modern period through to the closure of mental institutions in the twentieth century.
