Women and the Insane Asylum

Women and the Insane Asylum (Full Version)

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ArticlePost -> Women and the Insane Asylum (7/19/2009 4:18:00 PM)
When researching our women ancestors, one place is often overlooked: the insane asylum. Some of the reasons our grandmothers were institutionalized are quite unbelievable. In the early 1800's wives and daughters were often committed for not being obedient enough to their husbands or fathers. Women and the Insane Asylum http://articles.familylobby.com/349-Women-and-the-Insane-Asylum.htm

ArticlePost -> RE: Women and the Insane Asylum (10/24/2009 8:07:51 PM)
Women have no rights back then. What would happen to their alcholic husbands who beat them probably drove them to insanity where the men placed in asylums because the women wanted better husbands. I commend those women before me and the struggles they lived throught Thank Goodness for Women Jaclyn

fiery -> RE: Women and the Insane Asylum (10/24/2009 9:54:32 PM)
If you want to read a true story about a woman that was institutionalized who became a family secret, read Annie's Ghosts by Steve Luxenberg. I mentioned it in the Reviews section here.

ChristineB -> RE: Women and the Insane Asylum (10/26/2009 9:41:22 AM)
Sounds like a good read. I love autobiography's. I know Malachy McCourt touched about instituions as well in his last book. His step daughter was in a group home back in the 60's and 70's....from what I can gather it was a horrible place to be back during that time. One person that was in her home came out and became head of an organization that handles mistreatment. I would love to know more about this type of thing....

fiery -> RE: Women and the Insane Asylum (10/27/2009 6:00:34 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: ChristineB Sounds like a good read. I love autobiography's. I know Malachy McCourt touched about instituions as well in his last book. His step daughter was in a group home back in the 60's and 70's....from what I can gather it was a horrible place to be back during that time. One person that was in her home came out and became head of an organization that handles mistreatment. I would love to know more about this type of thing.... It really is a good read, Christine. I don't want to give too much away but it's amazing how different it is even just a few decades further on. Steve spent a lot of time researching the history of the institution his aunt was in and the mindset back then and attitudes towards mental health. We think we have problems in this day and age related to the stigma attached to mental health, but they aren't even close to how much worse it was in those times. That's what makes much of the story so sad and such an eye opener. That if she had been born in another future decade, life for her could have been so different in so many ways.

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