Friday, August 21, 2015

Causes of Insanity, Central Indiana Hospital for the Insane, 1899

Although the 1899 annual report of the Central Indiana Hospital for the Insane doesn't list any patients by name, it does give us a glimpse into the institution and the understanding of mental illness at the time.

There were 624 people admitted to Central Indiana Hospital in the fiscal year ending October 31, 1899. According to the annual report, these were the causes of their insanity:


You can read volumes 51-60 (1899-1908) of the annual report of the Central Indiana Hospital for the Insane on Google Books.
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2 comments:

  1. JerrySeptember 1, 2015 at 12:12 PM

    According to this chart, in 1899 almost all of us could have been committed as "insane" at one time or another! Amazing! :-)

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  2. Andrea GlennSeptember 1, 2015 at 8:49 PM

    The first annual report of the Indiana Hospital for the Insane was published in 1849: https://books.google.com/books?id=holKAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA95

    The report also includes a list of supposed causes of illness including: Mexican war excitement, Reading vile books, Millerism, and Getting lost in the woods just to name a few. https://books.google.com/books?id=holKAAAAMAAJ&pg=RA1-PA98

    There is a treasure-trove of information in these old state reports.

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