Diseases of the Mind

Gallery: Psychiatric Debates

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A man stands in the courtyard as a woman patient is freed from her chains; other women patients are chained to wooden posts attached to a building.

A scowling woman with her arms held in a gown sitting with her feet drawn up on a bench, and leaning against a tiled wall.

A man slumped on a chair, wearing a harness to inhibit mobility.

A man sitting on the floor hugging his knees wearing a robe, his hands tucked in the sleeves and the collar up over his mouth.

A man is sitting in a chair wearing a gown with the end of each long sleeve tied to the opposite side of the chair.

Front and back view of a man wearing a shoulder harness to immobilize his arms, and with his ankles shackled

An illustration of cell made of wooden slats raised up off the floor, with a small square opening at head height, fastened closed with bars and padlocks.

An illustration of a circular plate of metal approx. 1/4 inch thick on which is a 1/2 inch opening; a T-shaped handle is attached.

Front elevation and first floor plan of a sprawling building of three floors.

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The Key, 1827

The key is an instrument used to secure an opening through which food can be passed into the mouths of persons refusing to take nourishment.

In Observations on the Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment of Derangement of the Mind; Founded on an Extensive Moral and Medical Practice in the Treatment of Lunatics by Paul Slade Knight, 1827.

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About the Book

Printed title page with Surgeon General’s Library stamp.

The insane in foreign countries by William Letchworth (New York and London, 1889)

William Letchworth’s The insane in foreign countries was the outcome of a seven-month investigation of charitable organizations in several European countries.

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