Disha Murugupandiyan - Week #6 - From Healing to Harm
In the 19th century, when society saw individuals that acted in a way that they considered abnormal, their first instinct was to throw them into insane or lunatic asylums. They were often viewed as witches if they were women, or simply possessed by the Devil. This started an age of inhumane and abusive treatment.
Located in remote areas, asylums were built in America over big stretches of land with the intention of being a community that would house the “insane” and contain them in a manner that would prevent from hurting or “infecting” others. However, these institutions quickly became overcrowded and underfunded; many held thousands over their limit while others were simply neglected as they didn’t receive funding from the government.
What makes these institutions so unbelievable is the inhumane treatments that prisoners were subjected to against their will. With little understanding of mental illness at the time, many doctors performed extremely cruel treatments, either believing they would work, or simply for fun. They would shock them, perform lobotomies, isolate them or even physically punish them. Even when they knew that certain treatments didn’t work, some doctors would simply do it again and again. These prisoners didn’t receive the treatment that they truly needed, and ended up being hidden away as prisoners of a broken system.
One such asylum is the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum, opened in 1864, in Weston, West Virginia. Built as the largest hand-cut stone masonry building in North America with an interior of 6 acres, Trans-Allegheny was built to house around only 250 patients. However, the asylum ended up holding more than 2,400 people; from that, it’s easy to imagine how overcrowded and uncomfortable living there must have been. Eventually, as the stigma around mental health changed, the asylum ended up closing in 1994. However, they didn’t close without leaving behind a trace.
With over 4,000 lobotomies performed there, and with several patients living in the building from the moment of birth until death, the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum is rumored to be haunted by the thousands that died there. Currently, it is open to paranormal investigators, and many have reported stories of paranormal activity, including doors closing, moving shadows, and disembodied voices. One spirit has even been interacted with enough times to have a name: Lily, who identifies as a nine-year old girl.
Whether you believe in the paranormal or not, one fact will stay true; the stigma surrounding the mentally ill is what caused all of this to happen. The cruel treatment, the deaths, the rumors, the alleged spirits. When faced with something so odd and unfamiliar, man’s first instinct was to isolate them, push them away, and think about them as less than human. These asylums can be viewed as a reflection of broader societal failures, ones that may still exist today in other forms: how ignorance and fear can lead to cruelty and dehumanization. Fortunately, modern psychiatry has been able to transform mental health care, and provide patients with the help they need.
But what if they hadn’t?
It is so saddening to see people who are seeking help be treated poorly because of their issues. I agree that in the past people who were mentally ill were assumed to be a threat to society and instead of finding a way to help these people accumulate into society many were thrown into “overcrowded and uncomfortable” hospitals with little-to-no knowledge of what might happen to them. In a way these hospitals turned into prisons that furthered the stigma around these people who were just seeking help. The fact that there are people today who are still mocking the history around these places by going to the ruins and claiming there is “paranormal” activity is only holding back society’s perception of the mentally ill. I am a firm believer of “I’ll believe it when I see it” so I do not know for sure if this activity is real or not, however there have been multiple cases where “paranormal investigators” will fabricate evidence in order to gain views. The fact that they are exploiting the lives of those before them, the lives that were so carelessly treated, is sickening. Although, as modern medicine has developed and more research is being done, we have a better understanding of how the human mind works and what causes variations amongst society. I feel that as long as we put effort into furthering research regarding these topics we can avoid any more “societal failures.”
ReplyDeleteTruly one of the most depressing stains on American history. I can imagine being one of these people with a mental illness. Being ostracized by society, family, friends and eventually thrown into an asylum for something you are unable to control. Expecting to receive help, you soon realize that "help" has left a long time ago. If you search up "old asylums" on Google, one of the first things you see is a table with straps, tools for lobotomy living on the surrounding tables with massive domes hovering above the table with straps almost resembling a cult like sacrifice. Absolutely depressing, and makes me really appreciate modern knowledge.
ReplyDeleteHi, Disha! Reading this immediately reminded me of the movies Shutter Island and The Silence of the Lambs. If you haven’t watched them yet, I would 100% recommend doing so. They are both movies about mental illnesses and insane asylums. Your blog also reminded me of JFK’s sister who was lobotomized at 23 by her father’s orders (because of mood swings and erratic behavior!). But I guess your blog makes perfect sense of that; she was most definitely a witch so, never mind, a lobotomy was a perfect idea. Thank god lobotomies don’t happen anymore, but it’s so sad they happened in the first place. I think it’s really easy for me to separate myself from cruel history like this and see it from an outsider perspective but I physically can’t imagine living a life like that. Truly, I can’t fathom how one could live their life in the 19th century knowing they were being forced into an insane asylum, especially if 1. they weren’t insane and/or 2. they knew the horrible treatment of people there. I think I would just become insane constantly trying to convince people I wasn’t. On a paranormal level, it’s also another continuation of unfair treatment. While I personally don’t believe in those things, if it is true, I think it’s monstrous to continue harassing and poking people who already spent their entire life being harassed and poked at.
ReplyDeleteHi Disha! This is such a tragic part of American history. It reminds me of my history class and how we learned that “the stigma surrounding mental ill[ness]” led to reformers like Dorothea Dix who tried to change asylum conditions; however her ideas rarely succeeded. The overall treatment relates to the concept of “Manifest Destiny”, enabling the U.S. to do what they want because they are considered “chosen.” So, if they see people who are “abnormal” in their view, they will feel like they have the right to move them and continue exploring the West. Hearing how the Trans-Allegheny Lunatic System is meant for “250 patients” but the asylum had “2400 people” is so disheartening. I cannot imagine the pain that these patients must have felt when living in this system. To ensure that these people with illnesses improve, they need a comfortable environment, and all I can see is that their environment will have aggravated their conditions. Thanks for your blog, and it was truly insightful for me to reflect on America in the 19th century.
ReplyDelete