Essay On Mental Health

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Recommended: Mental illnesses then and now

When it comes to mental illnesses people tend to assume the worst of the patients, what they don’t think about is the people who care for them. They don’t care what really goes on behind the walls of the facilities. The patients were treated like animals, and horrendous punishments were appointed whenever someone missbehaved. Instead of helping the patients with their mental health, the doctors and nurses were making the patients feel worse. Recovery was on the low percentage and thirty-eight percent of the patients in mental hospitals in the 1800s were reported dead. If we were to compare the time periods of 1600s-1800s and 2000s the differentiality would be beyond extremity. In the year “1752 the quakers in Philadelphia were the first in America to make an organized effort to care for the mentally ill” this effort of the quakers founded the idea of opening an actual institution for the mentally ill(Diseases of the Mind: Highlight). In 1856 the Pennsylvania Hospital for the Insane opened up. Before this the mentally ill were treated inhumane. In late 1600s Europe, the mentally ill were shackled to the walls of dungeons. They weren’t properly cared for, they weren’t given enough food, and were quite often left nude. Mentally ill people weren’t being treated properly. It wasn’t until the 1800s that patients were put in proper facilities, but even then the treatments that these people were forced through were ghastly. In 1800s United States, facilities opened up to help those who needed mental health treatment. The patients were given a room, a bed, clothes, and were allowed time outside in the sun if they behaved properly. In some facilities, patients were being humiliated as a way of therapy. They would be arranged for public... ... middle of paper ... ...y locked her up the way she felt was close to insanity(Ten Days in a Madhouse). Think about that, this woman didn't even have a real mental illness and these doctors treated her horribly, and caused her so much pain. Are these doctors not well trained to notice the difference between a real mental health patient and a fake one. The 1900s came with a new set of treatments and cause chaos in the psychiatric hospitals. The electroshock therapy was introduced in the 1950s, it was said that the reason for this was to control the brain waves and somehow help the patients recover much faster. The treatments had a constant cycle. Women were given the treatment on Mondays and Thursdays, and men on tuesdays and Fridays. The patients were woken up at the crack of dawn and were dragged “begging, pleading, crying, and resisting” to the treatment area(Quest for a Cure: Care).

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