Account of the rise and progress of the asylum, proposed to be established, near Philadelphia : for the relief of persons deprived of the use of their reason : with an abridged account of the Retreat, a similar institution near York, in England.

Date:
1814
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Account of the rise and progress of the asylum, proposed to be established, near Philadelphia : for the relief of persons deprived of the use of their reason : with an abridged account of the Retreat, a similar institution near York, in England. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

    39/84
    Many errors in the construction, as well as in the management, of asylums for the insane, ap- pear to arise from excessive attention to.safety. People, in general, have the most erroneous no- tions of the constantly outrageous behaviour, or malicious dispositions, of deranged persons ; and it has, in too many instances, been found conve- nient to encourage these false sentiments, to apologize for the treatment of the unhappy suf- ferers, or admit the vicious neglect of their at- tendants.* In the construction of such places, cure and comfort ought to be as much considered, as se- curity ; and, I have no hesitation in declaring, that a system which, by limiting the power of the attendant, obliges him not to neglect his du- ty, and makes it his interest to obtain the good opinion of those under his care, provides more effectually for the safety of the keeper, as well as of the patient, than all the apparatus of chains, darkness, and anodynes. MEDICAL TREATMENT. UNDER the head Medical treatment, as practised in the Retreat, some may possible in- quire, what are the means employed in mortifi- cations, arising from cold and confinement ? '< a calamity, which, says a writer before alluded to, * T once accidentally visited a house for insane persons, in which security was made aprimari/ object. Here I saw three of the keep ;rs, mtlie middle of the day, earnestly employed in—playing at cards !