James Tilly Matthews (1770 - 1815) was a London tea broker, originally from Wales, who was committed to the Bethlem (Bedlam) psychiatric hospital in 1797, and is considered to be the first fully documented case of paranoid schizophrenia. Year 1770 ( MDCCLXX) was a Common year starting on Monday (see link for calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year starting on Friday Year 1815 ( MDCCCXV) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common year London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. Tea refers to the cured agricultural product of the leaves leaf buds and internodes of Camellia sinensis, which have been prepared and cured for the market A broker is a party that mediates between a Buyer and a Seller. The Bethlem Royal Hospital of London, which has been variously known as St Schizophrenia ( from the Greek roots schizein (σχίζειν "to split" and phrēn
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Voyage to France
In the early 1790s, concerned at the likelihood of war between Britain and France, Matthews travelled to France with the radical David Williams who was acquainted with such Girondists as Jacques Pierre Brissot and Le Brun. David Williams (1738 &ndash June 29 1816) was a Welsh philosopher of the Enlightenment period The Girondists (in French Girondins, and sometimes Brissotins or "Baguettes" were a political faction in France within the Legislative Jacques Pierre Brissot (15 January 1754 &ndash 31 October 1793 who assumed the name of de Warville, was a leading member of the Girondist movement during the Charles-François Lebrun 1st Duc de Plaisance, Prince of the Empire ( March 19, 1739 &ndash June 16, 1824) Williams made efforts at mediation which failed, whereupon Matthews took the lead. Despite the eccentricity of his statements, he gained the trust of the French government for a short time.
On 2 June 1793 the Girondists were displaced by the Jacobins and Matthews fell under suspicion for his Girondist associations and also because he was suspected of being a double agent. Events 455 - The Vandals enter Rome, and plunder the city for two weeks Year 1793 ( MDCCXCIII) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common A split album featuring performances by bands The KGB and Alien Spy that was produced in 1997 He was arrested and imprisoned for three years during the height of The Terror until 1796 when the French authorities concluded that he was a lunatic and released him. Saint justjpg|thumbnail|200px| Louis Antoine Léon de Saint-Just]] The Reign of Terror' (5 September 1793 &ndash 28 July 1794 or simply The Terror (la Terreur was [1]
Committal
Returning to London, Matthews wrote two letters to Lord Liverpool, in which he accused the Home Secretary of treason and complained about conspiracies directed against his life. Robert Banks Jenkinson 2nd Earl of Liverpool (7 June 1770 &ndash 4 December 1828 was a British politician and the longest-serving Prime Minister of the The Secretary of State for the Home Department, commonly known as the Home Secretary, is the minister in charge of the United Kingdom Home Office After interrupting a debate in the House of Commons by shouting "Treason" at Lord Liverpool from the Public Gallery, he was arrested and held in a secure workhouse in Tothill Fields, Westminster before being admitted to the Bethlem (Bedlam) psychiatric hospital on 28 January 1797. The House of Commons' is the Lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords A workhouse, colloquially known as a spike was a place where people who were unable to support themselves could go to live and work Westminster is an area of Central London, within the City of Westminster. The Bethlem Royal Hospital of London, which has been variously known as St Events 1077 - Walk to Canossa: The Excommunication of Henry IV Holy Roman Emperor is lifted Year 1797 ( MDCCXCVII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common [1] Upon examination he declared that he had taken part in secret affairs of state (referring to his efforts in France), but had been betrayed and abandoned by William Pitt's administration. William Pitt may refer to William Pitt 1st Earl of Chatham (1708–1778 Prime Minister of Great Britain 1766–1768 often known as William Pitt the Elder [2]
In 1809 his family and friends petitioned for his release, on the grounds that he was no longer insane, but their petition was rejected by the Bethlem authorities. They therefore took out a suit of habeas corpus and two doctors, George Birkbeck and Henry Clutterbuck examined Matthews, declaring him sane. Habeas corpus (ˈheɪbiəs ˈkɔɹpəs ( Latin: command that you have the body is the name of a legal action or Writ, through which a person can seek relief John Haslam, the resident apothecary at Bethlem, begged to differ and maintained that Matthews' delusions, particularly on political matters, rendered him a danger both to public figures and the general public. [1]
Illustrations of Madness
In 1810 John Haslam produced the book Illustrations of Madness (original title: Illustrations of Madness: Exhibiting a Singular Case of Insanity, And a No Less Remarkable Difference in Medical Opinions: Developing the Nature of An Assailment, And the Manner of Working Events; with a Description of Tortures Experienced by Bomb-Bursting, Lobster-Cracking and Lengthening the Brain. Embellished with a Curious Plate). [3] Haslam intended to settle the dispute about whether Matthews was insane or not; his book contains verbatim accounts of Matthew's beliefs and hallucinatory experiences and is considered the original description of the symptoms of paranoid schizophrenia. [4] The book was the first full-length study of a single psychiatric patient in medical history and has become a classic in the medical literature.
The "Air Loom"
Matthews believed that a gang of criminals and spies skilled in "pneumatic chemistry" had taken up residence at London Wall in Moorfields (close to Bethlem) and were tormenting him by means of rays emitted by a machine called the "Air Loom". London Wall was the Defensive wall built by the Romans around Londinium, their strategically important port town on the River Thames in England In London, the Moorfields were one of the last pieces of open land in the City of London, near the Moorgate. The torments induced by the rays included "Lobster-cracking", during which the circulation of the blood was prevented by a magnetic field; "Stomach-skinning"; and "Apoplexy-working with the nutmeg grater" which involved the introduction of fluids into the skull. His persecutors bore such names as "the Middleman" (who operated the Air Loom), "the Glove Woman" and "Sir Archy" (who acted as "repeaters" or "active worriers" to enhance Matthews' torment or record the machine's activities) and their leader, a man called "Bill, or the King".
Matthews' delusions had a definite political slant: he claimed that the purpose of this gang was espionage, and that there were many other such gangs armed with Air Looms all over London, using "pneumatic practitioners" to "premagnetize" potential victims with "volatile magnetic fluid". According to Matthews, their chief targets (apart from himself) were leading government figures. By means of their "rays" they could influence ministers' thoughts and read their minds. Matthews declared that William Pitt was "not half" susceptible to these attacks[1] and held that these gangs were responsible for the British military disasters at Buenos Aires in 1807 and Walcheren in 1809 and also for the Nore Mutiny of 1797. The British invasions of the Río de la Plata (Invasiones Inglesas del Río de la Plata were a series of unsuccessful British attempts to seize control of the Spanish The Walcheren Campaign was an unsuccessful British expedition to the Netherlands in 1809 intended to open another front in the Austrian Empire The Spithead and Nore mutinies were two major mutinies by sailors of the Royal Navy in 1797
In 1814 Matthews was moved to "Fox's London House", a private asylum in Hackney, where he became a popular and trusted patient, the asylum's owner, Dr. The London Borough of Hackney ( is a London borough in North-East London and forms part of Inner London. Fox, regarding him as sane. Matthews assisted with book-keeping and gardening until his death in 1815. [2]
Conclusions
- Although it is impossible to make an unequivocal diagnosis of a long-dead person, Matthews' description of his torment by the "Air Loom Gang" reads as a classic example of paranoid delusions brought on as part of a psychotic episode. Paranoia is a disturbed thought process characterized by excessive Anxiety or Fear, often to the point of Irrationality and Delusion. A delusion is commonly defined as a fixed False Belief and is used in everyday language to describe a belief that is either false fanciful or derived from Deception Psychosis (from the Greek ψυχή "psyche" for mind or soul and -οσις "-osis" for abnormal condition with adjective psychotic From this, it can be concluded that his disorder was most likely schizophrenia, although retrospective diagnoses should be treated with caution. Schizophrenia ( from the Greek roots schizein (σχίζειν "to split" and phrēn
- It should also be noted that while Haslam kept notes on Matthews, Matthews kept notes on Haslam and his treatment in Bethlem. This formed part of the evidence looked at by a Select Committee of the House of Commons in 1815, the findings of which led to Haslam's dismissal and reform of the treatment of patients in the Bethlem Hospital.
- Matthews was also important in the history of psychiatry for more practical reasons. During his involuntary confinement he took part in a public competition to design plans for the rebuilding of Bethlem hospital. Bethlem's governors thought so well of the 46 pages of designs submitted by Matthews that they paid him £30 and the drawings finally used to build the new hospital show some features proposed by Matthews. [1]
Fictional representations of Matthews
- Greg Hollingshead's 2004 novel, Bedlam concerns the changing relationship between John Haslam and Matthews and is narrated in first-person from the perspective of Haslam, Matthews and Matthews's wife.
- Alex Varley Winter and Vassili Christodoulou's theatrical adaptation of Haslam's Illustrations of Madness presents James's life history through the perspective of the "Air Loom Gang" and focuses primarily on the justifications and problems with compromising state security for liberty of the individual.
- Haslam's Key, a play written by journalist Danny O'Brien and performed at the Edinburgh Fringe in 1993, re-imagined Matthews as a forerunner of modern science fiction authors. Danny O'Brien (1969- is an English Technology Journalist. He wrote weekly columns for the Sunday Times and the Irish Times Haslam's Key was a wooden spoon-like device invented by John Haslam, documenter of Matthew's delusions, which was used to force-feed Bedlam patients.
- In 2002, the British artist Rod Dickinson built a recreation of the air loom from Matthew's original plans.
- Richard Hayden's novel The Influencing Engine is a fantasy loosely based on aspects of James Tilly Mathews life.
- In the CSI episode Lab Rats, Grissom uses Matthews' condition as an analogy in describing the miniature killer. CSI Crime Scene Investigation is an American crime drama Television series that trails the investigations of a team of Las Vegas Lab Rats is the twentieth episode of the of the Television series. Gilbert "Gil" Grissom, PhD is a Fictional character portrayed by William Petersen on the American TV Crime drama.
- In the 2007 novel, The Da-da-de-da-da Code by Robert Rankin, this particular case forms the basis for much of the plot. The Da-da-de-da-da Code is a Novel by the British author Robert Rankin. Robert Fleming Rankin (born 27 July 1949) is a prolific British humorous novelist
See also
Notes
- ^ a b c d e Trotter, David (2001). Homokaasu ( Finnish name literally " Gay gas " is a fictitious poisonous Chemical substance, that is supposedly an odorless and invisible Mind control is a broad range of psychological tactics able to subvert an individual's control of his own thinking, behavior emotions or decisions Paranoia is a disturbed thought process characterized by excessive Anxiety or Fear, often to the point of Irrationality and Delusion. Schizophrenia ( from the Greek roots schizein (σχίζειν "to split" and phrēn Francis E Dec ( January 6, 1926 – January 21, 1996) was an American from Hempstead New York known for his social-political Paranoid Modernism: Literary Experiment, Psychosis, and the Professionalization of English Society. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0198187556.
- ^ a b Jay, Mike (2003). The Air Loom Gang: James Tilly Matthews and his visionary madness. Nthposition Magazine. Retrieved on 2008-01-31. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 1504 - France cedes Naples to Aragon. 1606 - Gunpowder Plot: Guy Fawkes
- ^ Haslam, John (1988). Illustrations of Madness. Routledge. Routledge is a publisher of non-fiction academic books and journals ISBN 0415006376.
- ^ Howard, Robert (2001). Psychiatry in pictures. British Journal of Psychiatry. The British Journal of Psychiatry is a British Peer reviewed Scientific journal published monthly by The Royal College of Psychiatrists Retrieved on 2008-01-31. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 1504 - France cedes Naples to Aragon. 1606 - Gunpowder Plot: Guy Fawkes
References
- Carpenter, P. K. , "Descriptions of Schizophrenia in the Psychiatry of Georgian Britain: John Haslam and James Tilly Matthews". Comprehensive Psychiatry, 30 (4), 332-338. 1989.
External links
- Online version of Haslam's "Illustrations of Madness"
- Varley-Winter, Alexandra and Vassili Christodoulou (2007). "Illustrations of Madness"
- Rod Dickinson's recreation of the Air Loom
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