471E4--Week 4 Questions/Comments--Thursday

What did the economic effects of the war have on the South Carolina Lunatic Asylum? Why did the patient number increase after the turn of the century? Did the name change to the South Carolina State Hospital in 1895 have any positive effects? Why did some of the patients acquire other non-mental illnesses? ~ Emily Barry In these last seven chapters I was surprised at how much the institution changed after the war and not for the better. While it makes sense that after a war it would be harder to maintain an institution but the changes the South Carolina hospital made do not make any sense. The new doctors and workers seem to be more focused on harboring the patients than helping them. Instead of moving forward with treatment, the institution took a major step back. - Morgan H.  What little is known about the treatment of people that were considered “insane” during this time period makes sense but why did no one bother to really write anything down? It seems that it would be easier to treat a patient if records were kept on them at least once they arrived at the institute? Is it possible that families kept records on their family members but then got rid of them to keep others from finding out later? Morgan H. I thought it was interesting that slave owners were afraid that the actions of insane slaves could act as a catalyst for an uprising. McCandless also says that blacks were thought to require more medication to treat their mental illnesses. Could the prevention of an uprising be an additional reason for heavier use of medicine? -Joanna Jourdan We have talked a lot about treatment depends upon family, class, laws, symptoms, and physicans. There are so many opinions a physicians must weigh before he makes the correct treatment plan. I believe this quote in chapter nine sums up the conflicts in treatment; “Therapeutic decision were not the reflexive result of medical theories or principles but the outcome of a complex interaction of medical, economic, cultural, and social variables” (185). -Kasey Moore It seems a shame that part of the reason why moral treatment was abandoned was because the overcrowding of chroming patients, poor physical environment, and the lack of staffing resulted in physicians not having time to properly diagnose and separate patients. – Kasey Moore I found it somewhat miraculous that McCandless was able to obtain the sources on people wanting to put mental unstable person into the asylum from the community. I believe these sources invaluable in understanding the public’s opinion on the asylum. It seemed as if the majority saw the asylum as a scapegoat to the mental health problem in the state. Rather than worrying about treatment or being a financial burden to a small community they saw the asylum as all end all answer. They no longer had to take care the mentally ill, the state did. Why did the view of the asylum go from a burden to suddenly a relief to the people, which eventually led to the overpopulation of the asylum? What exactly changed their mind, was it propaganda or did word just get out that the asylum could get rid of these individuals in the community? –Jack Hylan I have to say that I too find it interesting that there seemed to be no standardization of records kept tracking the courses of treatment given to the patients. Was there still no concept of a peer reviewed process? Also, why did the number of patients increase after the turn of the century? ~ Alex Young I know we are suppose to look at this with a third perspective and from hindsight, however I found it highly hypocritical that slaves who were diagnosed with drapetomania were whipped for treatment, but white patients from the asylum who attempted escape were not diagnosed with a mental disorder that caused them to want to escape. Its actually surprising that the physicians of the time did not make up such an excuse to tell patients loved ones why they escaped, it seemed like it would be a viable excuse. –Jack Hylan I understand that politics always influence funding and such, but why is it that the South Carolina politicians always seemed obsessed with the asylum? Is it just that McCandless makes it out to be this way because it's the main focus of the book or was the South Carolina Lunatic Asylum truly that important to political issues? -Carly W. Going along with my political post, in Chapter 14 the investigation of the hospital led to two differing plans: the majority and the minority. Which plan do you agree with the most (considering it in that time period, not our own)? -Carly W. Why didn’t the hospital keep a record of the treatment of the insane before their arrival? Was it due to families withholding information or because they didn’t need it? - Katie Tryon I’m surprised to learn that people could just send their family members to jail for “safekeeping”. Especially after reading about the man that “feigned” insanity. - Katie Tryon As far as employment for the patients within the house I was saddened by the fact that the occupational and recreational activities decreased in the late nineteenth century in the South. Because of the switch from therapeutic concern to economic concern patients now had to find things to do in their huge amount of time they had. However, this meant that most of them just sat in their rooms. I also did not realize how much race affected employment within the asylums. McCandless mentioned that African Americans took on certain types of roles. –Courtney Collier I was so glad to read about when bleeding gradually began to fade as a treatment for physicians. But McCandless points out that one patient loved to bleed because it relieved her. Were there other cases of people who actually were addicted to bleeding? I knew medicine was addictive but bleeding surprised me. – Courtney Collier In McClurken’s piece, I was not surprised by the number of patients admitted into the asylum due to war related stresses. However, I was surprised by the people who were admitted because they were violent toward Blacks. While I understand that politically African American were freed that doesn’t mean racism and violence ended. I’m just curious at what point does violence towards Blacks switch from being a characteristic of the insane to being a characteristic of the south. I just think by those standards every member of the KKK should have been put in the asylum because God desired them to rule over Blacks. –Kasey Moore

I was alarmed by the opportunity for people to put their loved ones in jails for safe keeping. This seems to be highly different from the southern culture that we spoke of earlier. Also, the abandonment of moral treatment was surprising. Overall, the effects that race had were massive on how the asylum was shaped not only with patients but workers as well.- Maggie Nunn

I think what surprised me the most were the similarities between all forms of treatment, whether in the asylum, the poorhouse, or at home. For the most part, the people in charge of the mentally ill appeared to show some form of concern. I did not expect the officers in the poorhouse to feel badly about the lack of physical activity; Tomes made it seem as if the poorhouses cared little about the distinction between the criminals and the insane. --Chelsea Chin

Ensor claimed a cure rate of 31%, as opposed to 45% at the asylum earlier. Do you think this was because of a lack of funding, an increase in the patient population, or the change in treatment away from medical treatment? -Joanna Jourdan

McClurken's piece provides a nice analysis of patients suffering from what would seem today as PTSD, among other disorders. I'm curious as to what families felt like when their loved ones returned home as completely different people. I know that both times when my dad came home from Iraq, we were not sure how to handle his somewhat erratic behavior. I cannot even imagine what it felt like for the families of Civil War veterans. --Chelsea Chin

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