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"Asylum" redirects here. For other uses, see Asylum (disambiguation).

The history of psychiatric hospitals (also called insane asylums or mental asylums) is linked heavily with social and scientific attitudes towards mentally ill persons, which have changed greatly over the past centuries.

Contents

History

Cities

As the number of people living in cities increased, there became an increasingly large population of mentally ill people. Generally speaking, in rural areas the mentally ill had been able to rely on local support of the people around them, or managed to simply go unnoticed amongst the rest of the population. However, under the demands of larger cities they faced a higher degree of difficulty and had a much greater chance of causing disruption or simply being a nuisance. This led to the building of the early asylums.

In England the Middlesex County Court Judges pressured the UK Government resulting in an act of parliament - The Madhouse Act 1828, allowing the building of purpose-built asylums, the first of which the 1st Middlesex County Asylum was at Hanwell in West London and opened its doors in late 1831. The (1st Middlesex County Asylum at Hanwell, also known as Hanwell Insane Asylum, was built for the pauper insane and has evolved to become the Hanwell is a town situated in the London Borough of Ealing in West London, between Ealing and Southall. (Src. Museums of Madness, Andrew T. Scull, Penguin 1979)

Initially these early asylums were little more than repositories for the mentally ill – removing them from mainstream society in the same manner as a jail would for criminals. Conditions were often extremely poor and serious treatment was not yet an option.

Early psychiatric hospitals

Main article: Islamic psychology

The first psychiatric hospitals and insane asylums were built in the medieval Islamic world as early as the 8th century. Muslim physicians and psychologists built the first ones in Baghdad from 705, followed by Fes in the early 8th century, and Cairo in 800. Baghdad (بغداد) is the Capital of Iraq and of Baghdad Governorate, with which it is also coterminous Fes or Fez ( Arabic: فاس, French Fès is the fourth largest City in Morocco, after Casablanca, Rabat Cairo () which means "the Vanquisher" or "the Triumphant" is the capital and largest city of Egypt. Other famous psychiatric hospitals were built in Damascus and Aleppo in 1270. Damascus ( دمشق,, also commonly known as الشام ash-Shām) is the capital and largest city of Syria. For other meanings see Aleppo (disambiguation. Halab redirects here for other meanings see Halab (disambiguation. [1]

Bethlem Royal Hospital

Main article: Bethlem Royal Hospital
Scene of Bethlem Hospital from the final plate of William Hogarth's A Rake's Progress.
Scene of Bethlem Hospital from the final plate of William Hogarth's A Rake's Progress. The Bethlem Royal Hospital of London, which has been variously known as St William Hogarth (10 November 1697 &ndash 26 October 1764 was a major English painter, printmaker, pictorial satirist, social critic A Rake's Progress is a series of eight paintings by 18th century English artist William Hogarth.

Bethlem Royal Hospital (Bedlam) was the first known psychiatric hospital in Europe, founded in London in 1247 and by 1403, had begun accepting social outcasts, the "crazy people", "lunatics" and those who couldn't stay hidden in society anymore. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. It soon became infamous for its cruel treatment of the insane, and in the 18th century would have outsiders pay a penny to come and watch their patients as a form of torturous entertainment. In 1700 it is recorded that the "lunatics" were called "patients" for the first time, and within twenty years separate wards for the "curable" and "incurable" patients had been established. Mental illness was now no longer an affliction, but a disease, to be diagnosed and potentially cured.

Humane treatment

The physician Plato was the one who followed Hippocrates search and believed that the treatment for people that had mental illness had to be more humane and gentle rather than cruel.

Middle East

Main article: Islamic psychology

Unlike medieval Christian physicians who relied on demonological explanations for mental illness, medieval Muslim physicians and psychologists relied mostly on clinical observations. Demonic possession is often the term used to describe the control over a human form by Satan himself or one of his assigned advocates Mental disorder or mental illness is a psychological or behavioral pattern that occurs in an individual and is thought to cause distress or disability that is not expected as Clinical psychology includes the scientific study and application of Psychology for the purpose of understanding preventing They made significant advances to psychiatry and were the first to provide psychotherapy and moral treatment for mentally ill patients, in addition to other forms of treatment such as baths, drug medication, music therapy and occupational therapy. Psychiatry is a medical specialty which exists to study, prevent, and treat Mental disorders in Humans Psychiatric Psychotherapy is an Interpersonal, relational intervention used by trained psychotherapists to aid clients in problems of living Moral Treatment was an approach to Mental disorder based on Humane Psychosocial care or Moral discipline that emerged in the 18th century and Bathing is the immersion of the body in a Fluid, usually Water or an aqueous solution Medication, also referred to as medicine, can be loosely defined as any substance intended for use in the diagnosis cure mitigation treatment or prevention of disease Music therapy is an interpersonal process in which the therapist uses music and all of its facets&mdashphysical emotional mental social aesthetic and spiritual&mdashto help clients to improve Occupational Therapy, often abbreviated "OT", is the "use of productive or creative activity in the treatment or rehabilitation of physically cognitively or In the 10th century, the Persian physician Muhammad ibn Zakarīya Rāzi (Rhazes) combined psychological methods and physiological explanations to provide treatment to mentally ill patients. layout and formatting it should ensure no clashes with the top of the infobox Psychology (from Greek grc ψῡχή psȳkhē, "breath life soul" and grc -λογία -logia) is an Academic and Physiology (from Greek grc φύσις physis, "nature origin" and grc -λογία -logia) is the study of the mechanical physical His contemporary, the Arab physician Najab ud-din Muhammad, first described a number of mental illnesses such as agitated depression, neurosis, and sexual impotence (Nafkhae Malikholia), psychosis (Kutrib), and mania (Dual-Kulb). The araB gene Promoter is a bacterial promoter activated by e L-arabinose binding This article is an expansion of a section entitled '''Mixed state''' from the main article Bipolar disorder In the context of Mental This article describes the term in psychology For the experimental metal band see Neurosis (band. Psychosis (from the Greek ψυχή "psyche" for mind or soul and -οσις "-osis" for abnormal condition with adjective psychotic Mania (from Greek μανία and that from μαίνομαι - mainomai, "to rage to be furious" is a severe medical condition [1]

In the 11th century, another Persian physician Avicenna recognized 'physiological psychology' in the treatment of illnesses involving emotions, and developed a system for associating changes in the pulse rate with inner feelings, which is seen as a percursor to the word association test developed by Carl Jung in the 19th century. TemplateInfobox Muslim scholars --> ( Persian /ابو علی الحسین ابن عبدالله ابن سینا (born Psychophysiology (from Greek grc ψῡχή psȳkhē, "breath life soul" grc φύσις physis, "nature origin" and grc -λογία An emotion is a mental and physiological state associated with a wide variety of feelings thoughts and behaviours In Medicine, a person's pulse is the throbbing of their arteries. Word Association is a common Word game involving an Exchange of words that are associated together [2] Avicenna was also an early pioneer of neuropsychiatry, and first described a number of neuropsychiatric conditions such as hallucination, insomnia, mania, nightmare, melancholia, dementia, epilepsy, paralysis, stroke, vertigo and tremor. TemplateInfobox Muslim scholars --> ( Persian /ابو علی الحسین ابن عبدالله ابن سینا (born Neuropsychiatry is the branch of Medicine dealing with Mental disorders attributable to diseases of the Nervous system. A hallucination, in the broadest sense is a Perception in the absence of a stimulus. Insomnia is a symptom of a sleeping disorder characterized by persistent difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep despite the opportunity Mania (from Greek μανία and that from μαίνομαι - mainomai, "to rage to be furious" is a severe medical condition A nightmare is a Dream which causes a strong unpleasant emotional response from the sleeper typically fear or horror being in situations of extreme danger or the sensations Dementia (from Latin de- "apart away" + Mens ( genitive mentis) "mind" is the progressive decline Epilepsy is a common chronic Neurological disorder that is characterized by recurrent unprovoked seizures. Paralysed redirects here For other uses see xx Paralysed (disambiguation Paralysis is the complete loss of Muscle function A stroke is the rapidly developing loss of brain functions due to a disturbance in the blood vessels supplying blood to the brain Vertigo (from the Latin vertere, to turn and the suffix -igo, a condition i Tremor is an unintentional somewhat rhythmic muscle movement involving to-and-from movements (oscillations of one or more parts of the body [3]

Continental Europe

Vienna's Narrenturm, built in 1784, was probably the world's first building specifically designed as a "madhouse".
Vienna's Narrenturm, built in 1784, was probably the world's first building specifically designed as a "madhouse". Vienna ( in Wien; see also other names) is the Capital of Austria, and is also one of the nine States of Austria.

Phillipe Pinel (1793) is often credited as being the first in Europe to introduce humane methods into the treatment of the mentally ill as the superintendent of the Asylum de Bicêtre in Paris. Philippe Pinel ( April 20, 1745 - October 25, 1826) was a French physician who was instrumental in the development of a more humane psychological Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city [4] A hospital employee of Asylum de Bicêtre, Jean-Baptiste Pussin, was actually the first one to remove patient restraints. Pussin influenced Pinel and they both served to spread reforms such as categorising the disorders, as well as observing and talking to patients as methods of cure.

United States

The private Brattleboro Retreat, shown here ten years after its 1834 founding, was the United States' model for dignified "moral treatment". The Retreat Farm, a crucial part of therapy, operates to this day.
The private Brattleboro Retreat, shown here ten years after its 1834 founding, was the United States' model for dignified "moral treatment". The Brattleboro Retreat is a private non-profit Psychiatric hospital that pioneered mental health care in the United States The Retreat Farm, a crucial part of therapy, operates to this day.

Progress in treatment was also occurring in the United States, often ahead of similar advances in Europe. Due to its relative youth, the United States is the only major nation where psychiatric hospitals were first established for treatment, rather than punishment. This was especially true in tolerant New England and particularly one institution in Brattleboro, Vermont. Brattleboro is a town in Windham County, Vermont, United States, located in the southeast corner of the state along the state line with New Hampshire In 1834, Anna Marsh established the prestigious Brattleboro Retreat to offer "merciful, ethical, and scientific care" to the mentally ill. The Brattleboro Retreat is a private non-profit Psychiatric hospital that pioneered mental health care in the United States Originally named the Vermont Asylum for the Insane, the hospital pioneered the application of "moral treatment" based on clean living, patient empowerment, and therapeutic farm work. The hospital grew into a large research facility complete with these world firsts: a patient-produced newspaper, hospital swimming pool, bowling alley, gymnasium, theater, chapel, patient choir, patient sports leagues, outing club, dairy farm, and patient-run companies. Marsh endowed the Brattleboro Retreat in memory of her late physician husband. The vision she expressed in her will would come to impact around the world. Today it stands as a member of the Ivy League Hospitals. The original hospital building was the Marsh home, which still stands among the large riverside campus.

The Hartford Retreat (now the Institute of Living at Hartford Hospital) and McLean Hospital also set the tone for the United States' history of relatively humane private psychiatric facilities. The Institute of Living (IOL is a mental health center in Hartford Connecticut affiliated with Hartford Hospital. Hartford Hospital is an acute care hospital located in the South End of Hartford Connecticut. McLean Hospital (pronounced 'Mc-Lane' is a Psychiatric hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts. The Quakers of the mid-Atlantic states, particularly Pennsylvania, also offered dignified treatment that was among the most progressive in the world. The transition to state hospitals and "state schools", however, brought with them many abuses that shocked operators of private American psychiatric hospitals.

Reformers, such as American Dorothea Dix began to advocate a more humane and progressive attitude towards the mentally ill. Dorothea Lynde Dix ( April 4, 1802 &ndash July 17, 1887) was an American activist on behalf of the Indigent Insane Some were motivated by a so-called Christian Duty to mentally ill citizens. In the United States, for example, numerous states established state mental health systems paid for by taxpayer money (and often money from the relatives of those institutionalized inside them). These centralized institutions were often linked with loose governmental bodies, though oversight and quality consequently varied. They were generally geographically isolated as well, located away from urban areas because the land was cheap and there was less political opposition. Many state hospitals in the United States were built in the 1850s and 1860s on the Kirkbride Plan, an architectural style meant to have curative effect. The Kirkbride Plan refers to a system of Mental asylum design advocated by Philadelphia psychiatrist Thomas Story Kirkbride in the mid-1800s States made large outlays on architecture that often resembled the palaces of Europe, although operating funding for ongoing programs was more scarce. Many patients objected to transfers from private hospitals to state facilities. Some Brattleboro Retreat patients tried to hide when state officials arrived to transfer them to the new Waterbury State Hospital. This decline in patient census led to the collapse of many private institutions, which still accepted indigent patients even when state reimbursement for private hospitals dropped in the face of rising state hospital costs.

United Kingdom

At much the same time William Tuke was also pioneering an enlightened approach to the treatment of the mentally ill in England at the Retreat in York, for which the Brattleboro Retreat and the former Hartford Retreat were named. William Tuke ( March 24, 1732 - 1822 was an English Businessman, Philanthropist and Quaker. The Retreat, commonly known as the York Retreat, is a place in England for the treatment of people with mental health needs. This included not just humane treatment but moral therapy as well. Moral Treatment was an approach to Mental disorder based on Humane Psychosocial care or Moral discipline that emerged in the 18th century and

In 1817 a William Ellis was appointed as superintendent to the newly built West Riding Pauper Asylum at Wakefield. A Methodist, he too had strong religious convictions and with his wife as matron they put into action those things they had learn from the Sculcoates Refuge in Hull which was run on a similar model as the York Retreat. Methodism is a movement within Protestant Christianity represented by a number of denominations and organizations After 13 years their reputation had become such, that they were then invited to run the newly built first pauper asylum in Middlesex called the Hanwell Asylum. The (1st Middlesex County Asylum at Hanwell, also known as Hanwell Insane Asylum, was built for the pauper insane and has evolved to become the Accepting the posts, the asylum opened in May 1831. Here the Ellis's introduced their own brand of humane treatment and 'moral therapy' combined with 'therapeutic employment'. As its initial capacity was for 450 patients it was already the largest asylum in the country and subject to even more building soon after. Therefore, the immediate and continuing success of humane therapy working on such a large scale, encouraged its adoption at other asylums. In recognition of all this work he received a knighthood. He continued to development therapeutic treatments for mental disorders and always with moral treatment as the guiding principle. [5]

In Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England, Robert Gardiner Hill with the support of Edward Parker Charlesworth, develop a mode of treatment that suited 'all types' of patients, where by the reliance on mechanical restraint and coercion could be made obsolete altogether, a situation he finally achieved in 1838. Lincoln (ˈlɪŋkən is a Cathedral city and County town of Lincolnshire, England. Robert Gardiner Hill MD (1811-1878 was born in Louth, Lincoln, of parents engaged in trade

By the following year of 1839 Serjeant John Adams and Dr. John Conolly were so impressed by the work of Hill, that they immediately introduced the method into their Hanwell Asylum, which was by then the largest in the kingdom. This article is about the medical doctor for the VC recipient see John Augustus Conolly. The (1st Middlesex County Asylum at Hanwell, also known as Hanwell Insane Asylum, was built for the pauper insane and has evolved to become the The greater size required Hill's system to be developed and refined. This was necessary as it was beyond Conolly to be able to supervise each attendant as closely as Hill had had to do. Even so, he bid a pair of extra soft slippers made so that he could walk around the building at night without his foot falls warning the attendance of his imminent approach. By September 1839, mechanical restraint was no longer required for any patient. For years, this day was remembered at the Hanwell asylum by a celebration on its anniversary. Hanwell also was a very accomplished communicator and wrote and lectured widely about his work in mental health. Through all this progress Hanwell build great fame and his discoveries spread around the world.

By such means these and others, more effective treatment methods gradually took hold in different countries, and attitudes towards the treatment of the mentally ill began to drastically improve during the mid-19th century. Courts began to administer involuntary commitments with a greater eye towards medical justification.

Ineffective treatments

This provided a fruitful environment for the popularity of quick-fix solutions, like the eugenic compulsory sterilization programs undertaken in over 30 U. Eugenics is a social Philosophy which advocates the improvement of Human Hereditary traits through various forms of intervention Compulsory sterilization programs are government policies which attempt to force people to undergo surgical sterilization. S. states (and, later, in Germany), which allowed institutions to discharge patients while still claiming to be serving the public interest. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. These new treatments of mental illness – which is now seen as a "defect", and likely a hereditary one – were seen less as therapeutic for the individual patient than as preventative for the society as a whole.

From 1942 to 1947, conscientious objectors in the US assigned to psychiatric hospitals under Civilian Public Service exposed abuses throughout the psychiatric care system and were instrumental in reforms of the 1940s and 1950s. A conscientious objector (CO is an individual who on religious moral or ethical grounds refuses to participate as a combatant in war or in some cases to take any role that would support The Civilian Public Service ( CPS) provided Conscientious objectors in the United States an alternative to military service during World War II The CPS reformers were especially active at the Byberry Hospital in Philadelphia where four Friends initiated The Attendant magazine as a way to communicate ideas and promote reform. Byberry is a place name in Northeast Philadelphia that can have several references This periodical later became the The Psychiatric Aide, a professional journal for mental health workers. On May 6, 1946, Life Magazine printed an exposé of the mental healthcare system based on the reports of COs. Another effort of CPS, namely the Mental Hygiene Project, became the National Mental Health Foundation. Initially sceptical about the value of Civilian Public Service, Eleanor Roosevelt, impressed by the changes introduced by COs in the mental health system, became a sponsor of the National Mental Health Foundation and actively inspired other prominent citizens including Owen J. Roberts, Pearl Buck and Harry Emerson Fosdick to join her in advancing the organization's objectives of reform and humane treatment of patients. Anna Eleanor Roosevelt (ˈɛlɪnɔr ˈroʊzəvɛlt October 11 1884 &ndash November 7 1962 Pearl S Buck ( Traditional Chinese: 賽珍珠 Simplified Chinese: 赛珍珠 Pinyin: Sài Zhēnzhū ( June 26, Harry Emerson Fosdick ( May 24, 1878 - October 5, 1969) was an American clergyman

Radical medicine

By the mid-1940s, treatment of the mentally ill took a new turn, with the advent of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and insulin shock therapy, and the use of frontal lobotomy. Electroconvulsive therapy ( ECT) also known as electroshock, is a controversial psychiatric treatment in which Seizures are electrically induced Insulin shock therapy or Insulin coma therapy was a form of psychiatric treatment in which patients were repeatedly injected with large doses of Insulin in order to A lobotomy ( Greek: lobos Lobe of Brain, tomos "cut/slice" is a form of Psychosurgery, also known as a leukotomy or In modern times, insulin shock therapy and lobotomies are viewed as being almost as barbaric as the Bedlam "treatments", though in their own context they were seen as the first options which produced any noticeable effect on their patients. ECT is still used in the West, but it is seen as a last resort for treatment of mood disorders, and is administered much more safely than in the past. Elsewhere, particularly in India, reports have surfaced that ECT is enjoying increased use, as a cost-effective alternative to drug treatment. India, officially the Republic of India (भारत गणराज्य inc-Latn Bhārat Gaṇarājya; see also other Indian languages) is a country The effect of a lobotomy on an overly excitable patient often allowed them to be discharged to their homes, which was seen by administrators (and often guardians) as a preferable solution than institutionalisation. Lobotomies were performed in great numbers from the 1930s to the 1950s.

Drugs

By the mid-1950s, the first psychiatric medications became available for the treatment of mental illness, such as chlorpromazine, which revolutionized psychiatric care and provided new ways for many of the severely mentally ill to return to normal society. Psychiatric medication is a licenced Psychoactive drug taken to exert an effect on the Mental state and used to treat Mental disorders Usually utilized Chlorpromazine (as chlorpromazine Hydrochloride, abbreviated CPZ, marketed in the US as Thorazine) is a Phenothiazine Antipsychotic Newly developed antidepressants were used to treat cases of depression, and the introduction of muscle relaxants allowed ECT to be used in a modified form for the treatment of severe depression and a few other disorders. An antidepressant is a Psychiatric medication used for alleviating major depression or Dysthymia ('milder' depression Major depressive disorder, also known as major depression, unipolar depression, unipolar disorder, clinical depression, or simply depression The use of psychosurgery was narrowed to a very small number of people for specific indications. For the Tourniquet album refer to Psycho Surgery. Psychosurgery is a subset of Neurosurgery ( Surgery New treatments led to reductions in the number of patients in mental hospitals.

Political device

In some nations, mental hospitals were used as sites for the stifling of political dissidence or even genocide. Genocide is the deliberate and systematic destruction in whole or in part of an ethnic racial religious or national group Under Nazi Germany, a euthanasia program began which resulted in the killings of tens of thousands of the mentally ill housed in state institutions, and the killing techniques perfected at these sites became later implemented in the Holocaust (see T-4 Euthanasia Program). Nazi Germany and the Third Reich are the common English names for Germany under the regime of Adolf Hitler and the National Socialist German Workers Euthanasia (literally "good death" in Ancient Greek) refers to the practice of ending a life in a painless manner The Holocaust (from the Greek el ''ὁλόκαυστον'' (el-Latn holókauston holos, "completely" and kaustos, "burnt" also known as Action T4 (Aktion T4 was a program in Nazi Germany spanning October 1939 until August 1941 during which physicians killed 70273 peoplespecified in Hitler's In the Soviet Union, dissidents were often put into asylums and kept on a variety of destabilising medications, with the hope of not simply removing them from society, but making them unreliable in the eyes of others (see Psikhushka). The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 In the Soviet Union, Psychiatry was used for punitive purposes In the case of Zhores Medvedev, the ire of officials was aroused by manuscripts that had been published (without his permission) in the West and a book, Biology and the Cult of Personality, which was an attack on Lysenkoism. Zhores Aleksandrovich Medvedev (Жорес Медведев (born in Tbilisi Georgia on November 14, 1925) is a Russian Biologist, Historian A cult of personality or personality cult arises when a country's leader uses Mass media to create a heroic public image through unquestioning flattery and praise Lysenkoism was a set of repressive political and social campaigns in science and Agriculture by the powerful Stalinist director of the Soviet Lenin All-Union

The attitudes in these cases – that the mentally ill were a scourge and needed to be eliminated, and that the line between 'patient' and 'prisoner' is incredibly blurry – have their precedents in the history of mental hospitals, though were taken to extremes by totalitarian regimes. Totalitarianism (or totalitarian rule) is a concept used to describe Political systems where a State regulates nearly every aspect of public and private

Types

There are a number of different types of modern psychiatric hospitals, but all of them house people with mental illnesses.

Crisis stabilization

One type is the crisis stabilization unit, which is in effect an emergency room for mental disorders. Laws in many jurisdictions providing for involuntary commitment require a commitment order issued by a judge within a short time (often 72 hours) of the patient's entry to the unit. Involuntary commitment is the practice of using legal means or forms as part of a Mental health law to commit a person to a Mental hospital, Insane asylum

See also: Emergency psychiatry

Open units

Open units are psychiatric units that are less secure than crisis stabilization units. Emergency psychiatry is the clinical application of Psychiatry in emergency settings They are not used for acutely suicidal persons; the focus in these units is to make life as normal as possible for patients while continuing treatment to the point where they can be discharged. However, patients are usually still not allowed to hold their own medications in their rooms, because of the risk of an impulsive overdose. While some open units are still physically unlocked, other open units still use locked entrances and exits. This is to keep patients from escaping, which may be described as "leaving impulsively," or leaving without being discharged from the unit.

Medium-term

Another type of psychiatric hospital is a medium term, which provides care lasting several weeks. Most drugs used for psychiatric purposes take several weeks to take effect, and the main purpose of these hospitals is to watch over the patient while the drugs begin their expected effect and the patient can be discharged.

Juvenile wards

Juvenile wards are sections of psychiatric hospitals or psychiatric wards set aside for children and/or adolescents with mental illness.

These usually consist of anyone aged under 18.

Geriatric wards

Geriatric wards are designed to help treat older adult patients. The staff of these wards are specially trained to deal with older patients.

Long term care facilities

In the UK, at least, long-term care facilities are now being replaced with smaller secure units (some within the hospitals listed above). Modern buildings, modern security and being locally sited to help with reintegration into society once medication has stabilized the condition are often features of such units. An example of this is the Three Bridges Unit, in the grounds of Hanwell Asylum in West London. The (1st Middlesex County Asylum at Hanwell, also known as Hanwell Insane Asylum, was built for the pauper insane and has evolved to become the However these modern units have the goal of treatment and rehabilitation back into society within a short time-frame (two or three years) and not all forensic patients' treatment can meet this criterion, so the large hospitals mentioned above often retain this role. A patient is any person who receives medical attention care or treatment.

Halfway houses

One final type of institution for the mentally ill, that is not a hospital, is a community-based halfway house. In the United States, a halfway house is a residential center where drug users sex offenders the Mentally ill, or convicted felons are placed immediately after their These houses provide assisted living for patients with mental illnesses for an extended period of time. These institutions are considered to be one of the most important parts of a mental health system by many psychiatrists, although some localities fail to provide sufficient funding for them, such provision being seen as costly. A psychiatrist (also archaically called an alienist) is a Physician who specializes in Psychiatry and is certified in treating Mental disorders

Used as a form of prison

In some countries the mental institution may be used for the incarceration of political prisoners, as a form of punishment (see Psikhushka). In the Soviet Union, Psychiatry was used for punitive purposes In the United States, more so in the past than now (although it still happens) a 72 hour hold would be placed on a person by police when that person had committed no crime, but the police still wanted to take action against that person.

Anti-psychiatry objections

Some critics, notably psychiatrist Dr. A psychiatrist (also archaically called an alienist) is a Physician who specializes in Psychiatry and is certified in treating Mental disorders Thomas Szasz, have objected to calling mental hospitals "hospitals" (see anti-psychiatry). Thomas Stephen Szasz (pronounced /sas/ born April 15, 1920 in Budapest, Hungary) is a Psychiatrist and Academic. See also Psychiatry See also Biopsychiatry controversy Anti-psychiatry refers to a post-1960s configuration of groups and theoretical constructs Lawrence Stevens has described mental hospitals as "jails" [1]. Michael Foucault is widely known for his comprehensive critique of the use and abuse of the mental hospital system in Discipline and Punish. Michel Foucault ( (15 October 1926 – 25 June 1984 was a French philosopher, Historian, Intellectual, Critic and Sociologist. Discipline and Punish The Birth of the Prison is a book written by the philosopher Michel Foucault. Erving Goffman coined the term 'Total Institution' for places which took over and confined a person's whole life. Erving Goffman ( June 11, 1922 – November 19, 1982) was a Canadian and American sociologist and writer A total institution, also referred to as a voracious institution, as defined by Erving Goffman, is an Institution where all parts of life of individuals The anti-psychiatry movement coming to the fore in the 1960s oppose many of the practices, conditions, or existence of mental hospitals. See also Psychiatry See also Biopsychiatry controversy Anti-psychiatry refers to a post-1960s configuration of groups and theoretical constructs The Consumer/Survivor Movement has often objected to or campaigned against conditions in mental hospitals or their use, voluntarily or involuntarily. The Consumer/Survivor/Ex-Patient Movement, also known as the User/Survivor Movement is a diverse association of individuals (and organizations representing them who are either currently

Some anti-psychiatry activists have advocated for the abolition of long-term hospitals for the criminally insane, including on the grounds that those judged not guilty by reason of insanity should not then be indefinitely confined with potentially less legal rights, or on the converse grounds that insanity is not a coherent concept and so should not be a basis for different treatment. In Criminal trials the insanity defenses are possible defenses by Excuse, an Affirmative defense by which Defendants argue that

In fiction

See also

To see lists of individual establishment: view the categorical index for Psychiatric hospitals; which appears at the very bottom of this article. See also Mental disorder The history of mental disorder spans prehistoric times ancient civilisations the Middle Ages the early modern period the enlightenment The Kirkbride Plan refers to a system of Mental asylum design advocated by Philadelphia psychiatrist Thomas Story Kirkbride in the mid-1800s Mental health law is the area of the law that is applied specifically to persons with a diagnosis or possible diagnosis of mental illness and to the people involved in managing or treating MindFreedom International is an international Coalition of over one hundred Grassroots groups and thousands of individual members from fourteen nations The controversial New Freedom Commission on Mental Health was established by U The Psychiatric survivors movement is a loose coalition of people who united by the resentment that they have been harmed or betrayed by Psychiatry, advocate in favor of The Treatment Advocacy Center (TAC is a United States nonprofit organization founded in 1998 by Schizophrenia researcher E

References

  1. ^ a b Ibrahim B. Syed PhD, "Islamic Medicine: 1000 years ahead of its times", Journal of the Islamic Medical Association, 2002 (2), p. IMANA Logogif|frame|right|The IMANA Logo]] The Islamic Medical Association of North America ( "IMANA") is the largest Muslim medical organization in 2-9 [7-8].
  2. ^ Ibrahim B. Syed PhD, "Islamic Medicine: 1000 years ahead of its times", Journal of the Islamic Medical Association, 2002 (2), p. IMANA Logogif|frame|right|The IMANA Logo]] The Islamic Medical Association of North America ( "IMANA") is the largest Muslim medical organization in 2-9 [7].
  3. ^ S Safavi-Abbasi, LBC Brasiliense, RK Workman (2007), "The fate of medical knowledge and the neurosciences during the time of Genghis Khan and the Mongolian Empire", Neurosurg Focus 23 (1), E13, p. 3.
  4. ^ "Asylums and Care for the Insane". Catholic Encyclopedia. The Catholic Encyclopedia, also referred to today as the Old Catholic Encyclopedia, is an English-language Encyclopedia published by The Encyclopedia (1913). New York: Robert Appleton Company.  
  5. ^ Oxford DNB (2004) 'Ellis, Sir William Charles (1780-1839)' Oxford Uni. Press

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