Quakers had a different perspective on people with mental illness. The Quaker religion recognizes what they call the Inner Light—a divine spirit that they believe inhabits every person, sick or well. As a result, people are seen as deserving of dignity no matter what their mental health condition. After all, Quakers themselves knew what it was like to be treated as outcasts: After fleeing England for the sake of religious freedom, they faced persecution from Puritan colonists who saw them as threats to the social order.
Only after William Penn founded his own colony —Pennsylvania—in did Quakers find a place of their own. But mental illness affected the tight-knit Quaker community in both America and England. In the s, a young Quaker woman named Hannah Mills was placed in a York, England lunatic asylum and died soon after.
When John Minson Galt II took over the hospital in , conditions improved as "moral management" began being used for treatment, emphasizing self-control, work therapy, and leisure activities. Patients were given beds and other "luxuries," while activities like lectures, concerts, and visits into town were provided along with a library and workshops for sewing, carpentry, and shoemaking to teach practical skills.
The hospital thrived for a time, but a fire in and continued overcrowding forced the creation of a new facility at Dunbar Farm.
The new hospital, now called Eastern State Hospital, remains in operation today. In , excavation of the original building began and in , a replica, known simply as the "Public Hospital," opened as a museum in Colonial Williamsburg where visitors can see examples of patients' cells and learn about early treatment of mental illness.
The classification of mental illness, particularly among enslaved people, was broad as those who tried to escape were said to be suffering a condition called "drapetomania," believed to be the result of an overly indulgent master.
The site eventually included buildings for chronically ill females, delinquent females, and psychopathic men. More of a prison than a hospital, overcrowding, forced restraint, physical cruelty, and forced sterilization are just a few of the atrocities recorded at this site.
In , more than patients underwent involuntary sterilization, an act that later played a part in a class-action lawsuit filed by some of the victims requiring the Commonwealth to provide optional reversal procedure to every patient sterilized between and Western State Lunatic Asylum was opened in At first, it was a resort-style asylum, focusing on treatment and healing with serene surroundings, terraced gardens, and mountain views.
However, by the mid 19th century, practices started to shift to more common and cruel practices of the day, including straitjackets, restraints, lobotomies, and forced sterilization.
Joseph DeJarnette served as superintendent from and was perhaps one the most vocal advocates of eugenics, or compulsory sterilization of the mentally ill. Although forced sterilizations ended with a federal ban in the s, electroshock therapy, and lobotomies continued.
The facility relocated in the s and the grounds were turned into a prison until closing in the early s. The adjoining cemetery holds nearly 3, graves, many unmarked. Villages at Staunton. In , the Western State Hospital buildings were converted into the "Villages at Staunton" luxury condos.
Named after Dr. Joseph DeJarnette, Western State's superintendent, it broke away from the hospital in and became a fully private institution for the mentally ill and those with drug and alcohol addictions. DeJarnette was a notorious proponent of forced sterilization of anyone seen as "unfit," including the mentally ill, although it is unlikely that sterilizations were performed at the Sanitarium.
Operating as a secure Mental Health Hospital with plans to replace with new facility in Brookwood, Woking. Cane Hill, Coulsdon. Carlton Hayes, Narborough. County Durham. Claybury, Redbridge. Majority of buildings converted to luxury housing with main hall and chapel being used as a gym.
Fairfield, Stotfold. The Buildings are currently undergoing redevelopment — hospital within conservation area. Friern, Barnet.
New secure unit built to the north and original buildings accommodating long term patients. Goodmayes, Chadwell. Graylingwell, Chichester. Hellingly, Hellingly. Entire site demolished for housing, with chapel, rear ward block and villas still standing.
Horton Asylum, Epsom. Long Grove Hospital, Epsom. Manor Hospital, Epsom. Mendip, Wells.
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