The rights of the insane, in hospitals / by W.W. Godding.

  • Godding, W. W. (William Whitney), 1831-1899.
Date:
[1883?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The rights of the insane, in hospitals / by W.W. Godding. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    Having found our insane man — meeting him on the road to the hospital — the chances are ten to one that we shall overhear his friends say to him, that the imposing building to which they have come is a magnificent hotel, where they had better stop for some dinner — that it is an old friend of theirs who keeps it. From such friends Heaven deliver me ! Once in the hospital, the insane man has a right to know, and to expect that he will be told, the truth. Falsehood, which walks hand in hand with him to the asylum gate, should leave him as he enters. The shallow lies of timid friends — foolish as they are shallow, since they deceive nobody — should find no place in that abode, which is now to become his home. Distrust plants itself soon enough in the insane mind, under the most favorable circumstances ; what riffht have the friends to include me in their refus-e of o o lies? Why put enmity in his soul towards me on the very threshold of my care of him, believing, as he inevitably will, that I am privy to their deceit? Well said some forgotten sage — whose memory be blessed — “ Honesty is the best policy.” But another equally wise and alike forgotten sage has said, “ The truth is not to be spoken at all times.” Be- tween these two limits will be found the sum of wisdom in dealing with the insane in hospitals, for while even the truth is not to be spoken at all times, a lie should be spoken never. It is, perhaps, worth our while to take a moment to discuss the ethics of this matter. The commitment of an insane man to a hospital is legal; it not only conveys the right and the power, but it makes it our duty to hold him. Equally is it his right to know the facts, so far as he is capable of comprehending them. It would be pitiable if he could only attain that knowledge through a tissue of lies. Do 1 mean that he should be made acquainted with all the details of his case, including prog- nosis? Not at all. No more than any other sick man. Dr. Cowles, of Somerville, Mass., in his last report, has admi- rably condensed into a single sentence all that it is necessary to say to the insane on this subject: “You arc sick ; you may get well.” If asked for the facts more in detail, give or