insane in aslyums

The word “asylum” has been associated with the idea of patients being abused and experimented on, but history has shown that is not completely accurate. Asylums are normally connected to the 1900s, but they have been around for a much longer time period. In the 1800s, asylums were seen as places where patients could retreat to and be cared for in a humane way, which is why the word “asylum” did not have negative connotations. As time moved on, American citizens saw asylums as a creepy and scary place, thus why we use words such as institution or facility today. Throughout the years the care of the mentally ill has been under America’s scrutiny. The care of patients and the methods used to aid them have caused much controversy from the development of asylums until, and after, their decline.
The Quakers made an effort to treat and care for the mentally ill, and founded the first asylum-like institution in the 1750s. These mental asylums began popularizing and by 1890 every state in the United States of America had one. The United States had a high rate of citizens being admitted into asylums, and in 1955 560,000 residents of the United States were in a mental institution(“Timeline: Treatments for Mental…” 1). These asylums provided a way for patients to escape the judgmental eyes of the public and heal with accepting and understanding doctors and attendants. In the 1800s the ideal way of successfully curing mental illnesses was by the use of moral treatment. Moral treatment focused on the aspects of a normal life, so that the patients could be a part of the community again(Kent 68).
Early asylums were a place of refuge for people who had struggled with mental illnesses, but as more and more people were being admitted to these ins...

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...ally have a mental illness. An important idea that needs to be understood, is that there are no special words a person can say that will make a disease go away. There needs to be a process of treatment and therapy with a doctor, family, or even friends. If people with mental illnesses are to be helped, the world as a whole needs to allow time and sympathy for theses ill citizens to heal and grow.
The view of asylums has change drastically over the couple hundred years they have been around. From being a place of refuge to a place of death, asylums have seen it all. The public’s changing view of these homes for the insane has allowed America to provide better care and support to its mentally ill citizens. Although the care of the mentally ill has always been a prevalent topic in America, we have found a way to grow alongside the people in need of mental treatment.