Summary: The Physiognomy Of Insanity

In other words, photography can be used to present objectivity, to facilitate treatment and for future re-admissions of the insane. With his presentation Diamond’s application of photography to the insane in asylums became widespread. Just a few years later in 1858 British psychiatrist John Conolly published, “The Physiognomy of Insanity,” in The Medical Times and Gazette. In this series of essays Conolly reproduces photos taken by Diamond and provides a detail of each photo selected. I have included four of the plates Conolly used in his essay below.

While Conolly and Diamond argued for the use of photography to objectively represent the “general external character of mental suffering, or derangement of mind, and of structural changes

On January 8, 2011, Loughner attacked and “killed six people and wounded 13 others, including…then-U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords outside a supermarket in Tucson, Arizona” (cnn.com). In the CNN article “Loughner pleads guilty to 19 counts in Tucson, Arizona, mass shooting,” there is a hyperlink stated as, “Warning signs of violence: What to do.” What is important about this is that the hyperlink leads to another CNN article about James Holmes, the Colorado theater shooter. Within the Holmes article there is another hyperlink stated as, “Warning signs from a troubled mind: What parents should do” that leads to a page about Loughner that mentions that Loughner could have “underlying mental health issues such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder” (cnn.com). Though it may not be intentional, these hyperlinks within the articles support society’s view that there is a connection between mental illness and violence. What’s further shocking is what the judge said about Loughner in court. Within the article Judge Larry Alan Burns is quoted as saying, “he’s a different person in appearance and affect” (cnn.com). What this quote suggests is that in the minds of society there is a difference between how the sane look and how the insane appear. However, in all fairness, I do not know what Judge Larry Alan Burns really means by his statement. I can only infer what he meant by the context of the article. If Burns meant something else by his

It is a problem as real in the 21st Century as it was in the 19th Century and in earlier history, this problem is just presented in a different format i.e. through the media. Now, you may say ok, but what is the point. To you I say we as a society cannot acknowledge the presence of an individual’s “mental illness history” only when tragedies occur. While the past and the present portray mental illness in a negative way, in the past individuals suffering from mental illness were institutionalized. Today, individuals suffering from mental illness are no longer institutionalized; instead they are living in prisons and on the street. How mental illness is portrayed in the media and in education affects how individuals within a given society views mental health. Individuals with a mental illness are what I’m calling “double suffering.” Not only do they suffer from the illness itself, but they also suffer from the stigma of having such an illness. So, why does the negative portrayal of those who are suffering mental illness matter? It matters because we as a society cannot ignore mental illness as if it does not exist. We need to care; no longer can the screaming of their minds be