19th Century Insane/Mental Asylums - Sydney Butters

 

Padded Cell, 19th Century (1)

Introduction and Conditions of 19th Century Asylums

In the 19th century insane asylums or mental asylums were much different than the modern day psychiatric hospitals. Not only were the asylums themselves very different but the forms of treatment, and the way mental health was dealt with is a far cry from medical practices now. These 19th century asylums were noted as by Science Museum UK: "a place of misery where inmates were locked up and left to the mercy of their keepers" (2). The treatment of the patients at these asylums was most definitely cruel even being put in restraints, and padded rooms to keep them from moving. This era of asylums was also one of the focal points of the iconic vampiric novel Dracula by Bram Stoker. The description above matches the seemingly unfortunate conditions of the character Renfield who was admitted to the asylum for his odd behavior. 

Strait Jacket, c.1930. (3)

Connections To Bram Stokers Dracula

As mentioned above padded rooms, restraints, and isolation were forms of treatment that were all used on Renfield throughout the novel of Dracula. This draws an obvious connection between the topics and puts into light how all patients not just Renfield were treated during the 19th century. Renfield was isolated, and restrained in a strait jacket much like the one pictured to the right. Renfield suffered from seemingly delusional thoughts, and in general erratic behavior as he eats bugs, birds, and even escaped the asylum at one point. This the raises the question does this violent and erratic behavior justify a patient being restrained? 

Forms of Treatment

Although the reasoning behind the restraints seems legitimate especially for violent behavior, they both

Replica of a leather restraint harness 19th century (6).

were very isolating and constricting and not the right way to treat someone who is mentally ill. Despite it being so inhumane, isolation was a common way to treat patients in the 19th century as many psychiatrics thought according to Jessie Hewitt: "... mental patients had the greatest chance of regaining sanity when they were far from their relatives"(4). This meant keeping them away from everyone they cared about in a vulnerable, and difficult state after they were admitted to the asylum. Isolation however was not the only form of treatment used on patients at the time. Other forms of treatment were brutal Psychiatry online lists a few treatments like: "...static electricity, cold and hot baths, injections of testicular fluids..." (5) and many other inhumane treatment options. 

Asylum Reformation

Many would think the inhumane treatments came before any type of improvements, or mental asylum

"reformation." However, reformation of asylums did occur in the early 19th century, and with that came the development of  "the moral treatment" (4) The moral treatment according to Jessie Hewitt was: "...personalized and highly calculated interaction between doctors and patients." (4) This was very successful in treating the patients however with this amount of personal attention it could be hard to maintain with a growing amount of patients. Science Museum UK phrased the downfall of the "reformation" well by saying: "To some extent the Victorian asylums were victims of their own success" (2). They go on to explain that with the growing population in asylums it became hard to maintain this form of treatment. 

Final Thoughts

Because of the struggle to maintain humane treatment the asylums essentially reverted back to the old forms of treatment. The padded rooms, restraints, and "sedatives" were reimplemented into the now "overcrowded and poorly staffed county asylums" (2) This ultimately resorted in poor living conditions, and regression back to where mental health treatment started. Furthermore Renfield and many patients had to endure these ever-changing and inhumane conditions. To learn more about the harsh conditions of these asylum's see the video below by YouTube creator Into The Shadows (7) as it offers a more in- depth perspective into asylums of the 19th century. 

The Horrors of Historic Mental Asylums (7)

Works Cited 

1. Science Museum Group. Padded cell from psychiatric ward, Farnborough Hospital. 1988-572 Science Museum Group Collection Online. Accessed 31 March 2025. https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/co134195/padded-cell-from-psychiatric-ward-farnborough-hospital. 

2.  “A Victorian Mental Asylum.” Science Museum, www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/objects-and stories/medicine/victorian-mental-asylum. Accessed 31 Mar. 2025.

3. “Strait Jacket, Europe, 1925-1935: Science Museum Group Collection.” Strait Jacket, Europe, 1925-1935 | Science Museum Group, collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/co134139. Accessed 31 Mar. 2025.

4. ​Hewitt, Jessie. Institutionalizing Gender: Madness, the Family, and Psychiatric Power in Nineteenth-Century France. Cornell University Press, 2020. 

5.  Clinical Manual of Emergency Psychiatry, Second Edition | American Journal of Psychiatry, psychiatryonline.org/doi/full/10.1176/appi.ajp.2016.16040381. Accessed 31 Mar. 2025.

6.  “Replica of a 19th-Century Restraint Harness, England, 1930-1940: Science Museum Group Collection.” Replica of a 19th-Century Restraint Harness, England, 1930-1940 | Science Museum Group, collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/co134152. Accessed 31 Mar. 2025.

7. “The Horrors of Historic Mental Asylums.” YouTube, Into the Shadows, 8 May 2024, www.youtube.com/watch?v=h9bXornp-WA.