471E4--Week 9 Questions/Comments--Tuesday

I was taken aback by Frances Framer's narrative. I can't believe the horror she survived, most of the other accounts were calmer. I think it is intersting that this gruesome account is, also, the latest account; taking place in 1943-1950. Wouldn't you think by now they had taken care of the horrible abuse? Think back to all those reformers like Dix, Bly, and Packard ... why is this still going on! - Kasey Moore

Kasey, I felt the same way and she really hit you hard from the beginning of her narrative! – Katie Tryon

I found it interesting that Margaret Isabel Wilson completely took the blame for her time in the asylum. It is also strange that she voluntarily went into an asylum, even though she appeared to have a background with Blackmoor; however, I think that her belief that she knew about the asylum and then ultimately finding out she didn't know the first of it once she entered it links back to our discussion about how asylums were portrayed to visitors and the realities of patient life. --Carly W. We've previously discussed the actions which lead to a runaway patient and the punishment they receive upon their capture or return. What happens when a patient commits suicide? There can't be a punishment, but in order to act in that way, wouldn't they be conscious and aware of their own actions in order to successfully attempt their own death? ~Emily Barry I find it fascinating how much the definition and ideal of feminism has changed. In the early twentieth-century is was associated with lesbianism and was associated as this woman who wanted to be a man and that kept her from happiness. It has now become this liberating term and is encouraged in most of society. Independence and feminism are associated with one another and allow women to explore new options. No wonder women were put in the asylum with the assumption that they were unhappy with their sex! –Courtney Collier The account of Frances Farmer just reiterates what we have discussed during the semester thus far. She states, “The asylum itself was a steel trap, and I was not released from its alive and victorious. I crawled out mutilated, whimpering and terribly alone.” This just proves the lack of curability that was truly involved in the mental institution. It wasn’t just physically damaging but it was damaging to one’s spirit and true character. –Courtney Collier What a wide range of patients. It seems that so many of the problems that we have talked about all semester (filth, poor food, abusive therapies) were still very much present in the 40s. Some of these ladies were clearly ill (the smell!) I wonder how many would have avoided institutionalization if they had manifested their symptoms a few years later and had tried Mother's Little Helper instead. --Stef L. It’s amazing how little the differences are between the last time we read about women in the asylum versus now. It is quite shocking how the conditions for the women relatively stayed the same and even may have become worse. I found this batch of writings much more shocking than the last actually. Why then would the conditions not have changed for the better for these women? Was it overcrowding or simply just ignoring patients’ needs? Some these women were subjected to rape and prostitution when they were suppose to be getting treatment. Why was that not stopped? –Jack Hylan What is interesting to note is that these reminiscences occurred during the period immediately following First-Wave Feminism. After earning the right to vote in 1920, it seemed that the Women’s Rights Movement tapered off. I wonder, what happened in the period between 1921-1963? Also I noticed that feminism is a term equated with lesbianism. We still seem to hear echoes of this. I wonder why, with all the progress that has been made, this connection is still perpetuated in some parts of America? Is it possible that the stigma from mental institutions regarding this equation shaped people’s perception of women’s roles and place within society even to this day? ~ Alex Young

I was alarmed at the insulin treatment that Lenora McCall was subjected to. I would refuse any medication that I knew would eventually make me black out, even if it was supposed to make me feel better. Taking the necessary treatments, especially in this group of accounts seems to have been particularly difficult for the patients. -Joanna Jourdan

It is interesting to see how treatments have transitioned from the last section we read from this book to this section of accounts. Margaret Aikins McGarr recalls talking with her psychiatrist in a conversation that resembles modern treatment much more than any of the previous accounts. -Joanna Jourdan

Previously, I had not thought of transition to other wards as a bad thing unless they were downgrading but Marion King’s testament, “I was getting to know some of the patients, and here I was going into another ward where I would have to go through the same thing again …” made me rethink the transition. This would be similar to a child switching school or moving to a new town where you don’t know anyone, a common fear. –Katie Tryon

It was kind of shocking that Margaret Aikins McGarr says that mental patients are known to become wealthy and make their friends wealthy due to their keenness after reading about Margaret Isabel Wilson lost all her money and possessions while in the asylum. Was this really something people thought or was she making this up or confused? – Katie Tryon

Mary Jane Ward’s story, besides reading like it was written by someone with issues, shows that sanity was a level she determined (through hoarding cigarettes) absent the doctors and discounting the nurse’s treatment. This is an interesting idea considering the other stories relied on medical professionals, rightly or wrongly, to claim sanity was restored. –Scott Campbell

Frances Farmer notes “tax supported institutions could not provide high enough salaries to entice [doctors]. . . and it is an indisputable fact that during this period the asylums were operated by the inmates.”(320) She then details many cases of rape and forced prostitution by those in charge. Do you think this is anecdotal, hyperbole, or actual fact? –Scott Campbell

These stories are interesting because they mostly detail women who acknowledge their mental issues (Farmer is an exception) but object to the treatment regimen recieved in mental institutions. It is different from the earlier stories we read when a majority of the women claimed they were sane, that they were put away in Asylums for social-control reasons. –Scott Campbell

I agree with Scott on the fact that these women do acknowledge their mental issues but after reading these accounts, I'm not surprised that they refused treatment. From the accounts, these women were placed in horrid conditions such as dirty rooms, poor sanitation and inadequate care. Women probably felt less independent within the asylums wall. Also, the cases of rape proves that women's need were not taken into consideration. Never mind the fact that if these women were to be mentally ill then rape them only intensified their mental illness. It is once again alarming at the poor conditions that women faced but not surprising.- Maggie Nunn

For most of these women, they faced similar treatments and experiences but for others it seems that the structure of life in the asylum was very different. Some of the women lived in very structured asylums where the same things happened every week but in others the women’s time was not occupied at all and they had to find ways to entertain themselves. Was it a difference in staffing that caused these changes or something else? - Morgan H.

As others have mentioned before, the difference between the stories of these women and the women we read about earlier in the year is very different. If anything it seems as if the treatments have become much worse and are more dangerous to the patients than helpful. Lenore McCall even stated that her doctor never tried to find the underlying causes to her problems but just encouraged her to get better. - Morgan H.

Up until now it was portrayed that the movement between wards was a rewards/punishment system (probably because most of our readings have been more superintendent based), and I found it interesting that for some patients it was not seen that way. I'm sure finally adapting to a place and getting to know people was a relief, so when patients were uprooted as a "reward" for their behavior, they had to start all over again. This doesn't seem to help with the idea that the asylum is providing "stability" for its patients. --Carly W.

Did anyone else get the vibe that the writing styles of the particular patients varied much more than of the previous patients? Some of them organize their stories well and explain through dialogue, but others seem, as stated above, scattered and a sense of their lack of complete sanity pervades their accounts. --Chelsea Chin

Frances Farmer's tale shocked me beyond belief. Again, as others have already stated, the treatment of the patients does not seem to have changed but rather in some cases, worsened. The only new thing is the idea that women are more bluntly writing about it. Farmer brings up a point, though...how prevalent was rape in the institutions? --Chelsea Chin