File:The insane in foreign countries (1889) (14591544920).jpg

Identifier: insaneinforeignc00letcuoft (find matches)
Title: The insane in foreign countries
Year: 1889 (1880s)
Authors: Letchworth, William Pryor, 1823-1910
Subjects: Mentally ill -- Hospitals Europe
Publisher: New York : G. P. Putnam's
Contributing Library: Gerstein - University of Toronto
Digitizing Sponsor: MSN

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. All the tailoring,dressmaking, shoemaking, and repairing for the establish-ment is done on the premises. In suitable weather parties of male and female patients incharge of attendants take walks beyond the asylum grounds.Besides the weekly dancing parties, there are, in winter,theatrical and other entertainments. A chapel in which Church-of-England service is held everySunday is conveniently situated on the grounds. Mass iscelebrated weekly within the institution for Roman Catho-lics, and a Rabbi conducts religious services at stated timesfor the Jewish patients. Of those admitted to this asylum Dr. Ley has taken muchpains to tabulate, from time to time, the causes of insanity,having gathered his information from examinations of his-tories of the patients, and from inquiry of and correspond-ence with the friends and relatives. The facts which hehas thus collected and the conclusions he has drawn there-from are very suggestive. He says of his investigationsmade during the year 1885 :
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X o (/I UJQ. <UJ < UJ UJ O(/) UJ _J zoo oc ou o < 5: PRESTWICH. 99 In about 27 per cent no cause could be assigned, as nothingreliable could be ascertained in regard to the antecedents of thosepatients. Classifying the assigned exciting causes as mental andphysical, the mental causes constitute 23 per cent, and thephysical about 55 per cent. Prominent among the former areworry, anxiety, and domestic and pecuniary troubles. Of thephysical, intemperance in drink is preeminent, reaching about 25per cent of all causes, and next to this comes ill-health, epilepsy,and disorders peculiar to the female sex. It will, however, beobserved that a large proportion of cases in which special excitingcauses are assigned, have in addition strong hereditary predispo-sition to the disease. At least 28 per cent inherited a weakenednervous organization, too feeble to resist ordinary exposure, andprone to become deranged by various disturbing influences,social, religious, or commercial. Th

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