"Sometimes I aint so sho who's got ere right to say when a man is crazy and when he aint... It's like it aint so much what a fellow does, but it's the way the majority of folks is looking at him when he does it." (Faulkner, 233)
1920sReasons for being put in an asylum:
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TodayReasons for being put in a mental institution:
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Darl's New Home: Pleasant or...?
We all know Darl was taken away with the intention of "a better life", but was this truly in store for him?
In the 1920's, psychiatric facilities were actually on the verge of "changing" their practices, but they were doing it slowly; very slowly. As the first prominent hospitals came into society around the 1880's, they were not suitable at all. Patients were simply admitted with or without consent from doctors, and treatment was as unfair and cruel as it could be. As time progressed, especially in the 1920's, people were becoming more aware and began trying new things, even if the ways were still unethical, but it wasn't enough to make a change that would stick.
Doctors at these hospitals began testing patients in many forms since no effective psychotic medicines were invented at this time. These treatments usually involved a lot of pain for the patients and little success for the doctors. These patients were faced with electroshock therapy, involuntary lobotomies, and even being restrained 24/7 simply because there was a larger ratio of patients compared staff. People were being brought into these asylums based off of judgement.
Although these facilities were trying to change their previous ways, they still were not deemed as ideal. If you were to compare an asylum that Darl would have attended in the 1920's to one now, there would be dramatic differences. So for the sake of Darl, which could have been worse: Living in unfair conditions with a large group of insane and sane people, or living with his own cruel family with conditions that could be just as bad in its own ways?
(Mississippi Asylum photos in the 1920's)
In the 1920's, psychiatric facilities were actually on the verge of "changing" their practices, but they were doing it slowly; very slowly. As the first prominent hospitals came into society around the 1880's, they were not suitable at all. Patients were simply admitted with or without consent from doctors, and treatment was as unfair and cruel as it could be. As time progressed, especially in the 1920's, people were becoming more aware and began trying new things, even if the ways were still unethical, but it wasn't enough to make a change that would stick.
Doctors at these hospitals began testing patients in many forms since no effective psychotic medicines were invented at this time. These treatments usually involved a lot of pain for the patients and little success for the doctors. These patients were faced with electroshock therapy, involuntary lobotomies, and even being restrained 24/7 simply because there was a larger ratio of patients compared staff. People were being brought into these asylums based off of judgement.
Although these facilities were trying to change their previous ways, they still were not deemed as ideal. If you were to compare an asylum that Darl would have attended in the 1920's to one now, there would be dramatic differences. So for the sake of Darl, which could have been worse: Living in unfair conditions with a large group of insane and sane people, or living with his own cruel family with conditions that could be just as bad in its own ways?
(Mississippi Asylum photos in the 1920's)
Works Cited
http://msacp.cobb.msstate.edu/history.html
http://dangerousminds.net/comments/list_of_reasons_for_admission_to_an_insane_asylum
http://www.rightdiagnosis.com/i/insanity/symptoms.htm
http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/health/mental_health/admission_to_a_psychiatric_hospital.html
http://msacp.cobb.msstate.edu/history.html
http://dangerousminds.net/comments/list_of_reasons_for_admission_to_an_insane_asylum
http://www.rightdiagnosis.com/i/insanity/symptoms.htm
http://www.citizensinformation.ie/en/health/mental_health/admission_to_a_psychiatric_hospital.html