An excerpt from the book History of Civilization معرفی و نقد

خلاصه ماشینی:

An excerpt from the book History of Civilization* Treatment of those suffering from mental confusion and instability is one of the most sorrowful chapters of history. The conditions prevailing in asylums were as loathsome as the conditions in hospitals and prisons. People who had no empathy for these patients often visited hospitals for entertainment. The St. Mary Bethlehem building in London, which was famous as a "madhouse" and was established in the sixteenth century, was one of those places where psychiatric patients were kept. They treated the unfortunate creatures in the asylum poorly; they beat them, gave them unsuitable food, imprisoned them in dark rooms, mercilessly drew blood from their bodies, and administered medicines to them arbitrarily. Philippe Pinel1 (1755 to 1826), the physician who was the head of the Bicetre2 asylum in Paris, unchained the patients, gave them proper food, and provided sunlight for them. Pinel's gentle methods proved effective in improving patients' conditions, and hospitals in France and other countries followed this example. Dorothea Dix3 (1802 to 1887) reformed the existing methods in America. Mrs. Dix, who was outraged by the inhumane treatment of the insane, prepared statistics and presented them to the Massachusetts State Legislature in 1843. Mrs. Dix visited all the states in the eastern part of America, succeeded in implementing reforms, and established asylums. Mrs. Dix deserves the description that one of her contemporaries gave her: "The most useful and prominent woman that America has ever produced. (1)- Ph. Pinel (2)- Bicetre (3)- Dorothea Dix