Life in a Mental Asylum: A Day in the Life Inside an Asylum
by Blog Contributor | May 30, 2024 | Asylum, Mental Health | 0 Comments
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There’s not a lot of us who know what life in a mental asylum is like, so today, we’d like to give everyone a brief glimpse into it.
Before we begin, though, we’d like to set everyone’s expectations properly by saying that what we’ve written here isn’t 100% accurate. This article is merely the result of hours of research and reading anonymous accounts in different forums, other articles, and websites. Please be aware that the information here may not reflect what others or you have experienced in a mental asylum.
With that said, let’s go ahead and discover what mental health is in the shadows and if the stories of abuse, torture, corruption, and murder are true to this day!
Conditions in a Mental Asylum Back in the Day
The Victorian mental asylum was notorious for being a horrible place where prisoners were imprisoned and left at the mercy of their guardians. However, the early 1800s saw the construction of the first sizable asylums as part of a shift toward a more compassionate approach to mental health treatment.
One of the earliest new state asylums, the Middlesex County Lunatic Asylum at Hanwell, located on the outer edges of London, established many mental health care guidelines during the Victorian era.
The Origin Story of Asylums
The historical counterpart of the contemporary psychiatric hospital was the mental asylum. The term “asylum” originated from the first (religious) establishments that offered mentally sick people a place to stay. One of the first of these establishments was Bethlem, founded in the City of London in 1247 as a component of the Priory of the New Order of our Lady of Bethlehem.
The historical counterpart of the contemporary psychiatric hospital was the mental asylum. The term “asylum” originated with the very first (religious) institutions that provided housing for mentally ill persons. Among the earliest of these was Bethlem, part of the New Order of our Lady of Bethlehem’s Priory and established in the City of London in 1247.
What a Day in Modern Mental Asylums (Psych Wards) Is Like Today
Based on what we’ve found on the Internet, there is a schedule, but it isn’t always the same. However, the staff will make sure you stay on time. It is anticipated that you will go to sleep at a decent hour and get at least eight hours of sleep. The day has a certain order.
Life in a mental asylum is like a regular day, except having a doctor. There is breakfast, quiet time, exercise/recess, television time, study time (for patients in school), leisure time, and a therapy group session. More of the identical activities resume after lunch, with a break for supper that’s frequently followed by guest hours, movie night, and lights out.
As we can see, the stories of abuse, torture, corruption, and murder prevalent in the past are no longer available today. This shift is good because it shows people what a psychiatric ward is really like in the modern era.
Life in a Mental Asylum Seems to Be Better
It’s absolutely great news that mental asylums (psych wards) are no longer as terrible as they used to be. However, there are still some stories of abuse, torture, corruption, and murder in a couple of these psych wards. We shouldn’t stop improving the system these facilities have because, in essence, they greatly help us.
You can learn more about mental asylums in the past by reading Asylum Scandals: Abuse, Torture, Corruption and Murder in Minnesota’s State Hospitals by Patricia Lubeck. Visit her website at https://www.plubeck.com/order/ to grab a copy of her book today.
Also, check out our other articles and discover the promising future of mental health asylums unveiled!
