Investigate the history of mental institutions in the United States. Explore the role that
journalists have played in influencing public attitudes toward the mentally ill, and
altering how the mentally ill are diagnosed and treated.
The United States has a very famous, and infamous as well, history concerning the mentally ill and mental institutions. Before the first real establishment of the first mental hospital, during the mid evil times, many did not know how to treat and cure the mentally ill. Many were thought of to be possessed by a demon or haunted by a curse that plagued the family. The first REAL mental asylum was founded in 1247, but did not have a majority of its patients made up of the mentally ill until 1403 ( English Heritage, From Bethlehem to Bedlam - England’s first Mental Institution). From then on, the correct treatment of mental illness has been the most controversial topic of todays time. Today’s era has an extreme wide variety of books dealing with mental depression and metal illness, directly; For example, The Three Christ of Ypsilanti, It’s Kind of a Funny Story, The Anatomy of Violence, and a wide selection of books dealing with psychology and neuroscience. There is one specific journalist who would change the idea of mental patients and asylums: Elizabeth Jane Cochran, famously known as Nellie Bly (inforfuge, women in journalism: a triumph over time). Nellie writes her confrontation with the idea of writing about mental asylums: “On the 22d of September I was asked by the World if I could have myself committed to one of the asylums for the insane in New York, with a view to writing a plain and unvarnished narrative of the treatment of the patients therein and the methods of management, etc.” (Cochran [ or Bly ]). Cochran would then fake mental illness to sneak inside of a mental asylum to document the treatment of mental patients and the methods of management in her piece, Ten Days In A Mad-House. In her journalism coverage, she clearly speaks about the extreme mistreatment about mental patients. She describes how many were beaten, mentally abused, and were not helped in the proper way. After this piece was release, it caught much attention to the medical field. This exposed the corrupt section of the medical field and the abuse of power. Not only did journalism pertaining to mental asylums expose the methods of treatment and bring attention to it, but also changed the view of others and how to properly medicate and treat the mentally ill. Journalist like Cochran advanced the medical field and affected the methods used and the proper placement of the mentally ill and medical treatment.
What an excellent answer... I really enjoyed reading that. How did you learn about Nellie Cochran? She was an amazing lady- can you tell me a little bit more about the changes that were made specifically made with her help?
Well, she helped change the modern standards of correct treatment. After her release of piece, she basically exposed the corruption with in these hospitals. A very common type of journalism is called muckraking. This type of journalism became popular with in the same era (19th century), which is around the time she started writing journalism. These types of exposed writings taught the true meaning “behind the curtains.” There was one specific aspect, or in general, one specific chapter, that caught my attention; There was a chapter in her piece called “Choking and Beating Patients” which specifically address the mental and physical abuse these mental patients went through. This traumatic event was so horrible that it brought major attention to these actions and, thus, creating a new set of ethics and lawful standards when dealing with the mentally ill.
The United States has a very famous, and infamous as well, history concerning the mentally ill and mental institutions. Before the first real establishment of the first mental hospital, during the mid evil times, many did not know how to treat and cure the mentally ill. Many were thought of to be possessed by a demon or haunted by a curse that plagued the family. The first REAL mental asylum was founded in 1247, but did not have a majority of its patients made up of the mentally ill until 1403 ( English Heritage, From Bethlehem to Bedlam - England’s first Mental Institution). From then on, the correct treatment of mental illness has been the most controversial topic of todays time. Today’s era has an extreme wide variety of books dealing with mental depression and metal illness, directly; For example, The Three Christ of Ypsilanti, It’s Kind of a Funny Story, The Anatomy of Violence, and a wide selection of books dealing with psychology and neuroscience. There is one specific journalist who would change the idea of mental patients and asylums: Elizabeth Jane Cochran, famously known as Nellie Bly (inforfuge, women in journalism: a triumph over time). Nellie writes her confrontation with the idea of writing about mental asylums: “On the 22d of September I was asked by the World if I could have myself committed to one of the asylums for the insane in New York, with a view to writing a plain and unvarnished narrative of the treatment of the patients therein and the methods of management, etc.” (Cochran [ or Bly ]). Cochran would then fake mental illness to sneak inside of a mental asylum to document the treatment of mental patients and the methods of management in her piece, Ten Days In A Mad-House. In her journalism coverage, she clearly speaks about the extreme mistreatment about mental patients. She describes how many were beaten, mentally abused, and were not helped in the proper way. After this piece was release, it caught much attention to the medical field. This exposed the corrupt section of the medical field and the abuse of power. Not only did journalism pertaining to mental asylums expose the methods of treatment and bring attention to it, but also changed the view of others and how to properly medicate and treat the mentally ill. Journalist like Cochran advanced the medical field and affected the methods used and the proper placement of the mentally ill and medical treatment.
ReplyDeleteWhat an excellent answer... I really enjoyed reading that. How did you learn about Nellie Cochran? She was an amazing lady- can you tell me a little bit more about the changes that were made specifically made with her help?
DeleteWell, she helped change the modern standards of correct treatment. After her release of piece, she basically exposed the corruption with in these hospitals. A very common type of journalism is called muckraking. This type of journalism became popular with in the same era (19th century), which is around the time she started writing journalism. These types of exposed writings taught the true meaning “behind the curtains.” There was one specific aspect, or in general, one specific chapter, that caught my attention; There was a chapter in her piece called “Choking and Beating Patients” which specifically address the mental and physical abuse these mental patients went through. This traumatic event was so horrible that it brought major attention to these actions and, thus, creating a new set of ethics and lawful standards when dealing with the mentally ill.
ReplyDeleteExcellent answer! Learned!
ReplyDelete