Institutions/Asylums- What were they like?

Imagine being labelled an idiot, lunatic or an insane person? Well this was the case for individuals who lived with any form of intellectual disability or mental illness in the 1900’s. These so called ‘Insane or idiotic people’ were removed from society and put into large prison like long-stay institutions, in order to provide care and medical treatment to get rid of the illnesses these people were living with. Can you imagine being put into one of these large institutes, locked away because you were different, had depression, anxiety, were struggling to cope? I mean doesn’t everyone experience this?

By living in institutional care, individuals were cut off from the community; their rights, choices and freedom were stricken from them and they were made to feel worthless. During this time patients were admitted with poor reason; patients experienced unsanitary and overcrowded conditions; there was lack of communication; physical violence and sexual misconduct and abuse occurred; there was inadequate mechanisms for dealing with complaints; pressures and difficulties for staff, within an authoritarian hierarchy based on containment; patients lived in fear and humiliation in the misuse of seclusion; over-use and abuse of Electroconvulsive therapy, psychiatric medications, and other treatments as punishments, including group therapy, with continued adverse effects; lack of support on discharge; interrupted lives and lost potential; and continued stigma, prejudice, and emotional distress and trauma. Even though this occurred within these institutions, they were still seen as the most efficient way to deal with these ‘abnormal people’ at the time.

New Zealand’s first institution was built in  Wellington- Karori (1854), followed by Dunedin and Sunnyside, Christchurch (1863), the Whau, Auckland (1867), Seaview, Hokitika (1872), and Nelson (1876). The next generation of buildings were in more remote areas and were much larger, for example Seacliff, near Dunedin (1879), and Porirua, near Wellington (1887), with Cherry Farm, near Dunedin opening in 1954 (Brunton, 2011). These large buildings were surrounded by their own farms and gardens. Patients were expected to work both inside and outdoors to the extent they were able, helping with domestic chores, farming and gardening. For some individuals these places were home, as they had no connections with family, it was a familiar environment to them and for some, they had grown up-living their whole lives inside their, not knowing any different. For others, they report not protesting or resisting treatment as they wanted to protect others around them, not wanting to inflict guilt onto their family who had put them there. 

This is a great documentary from the BBC which provides an in depth analysis into asylums and institutions and provides interviews from the individuals who experienced firsthand living in these places. I recommend you all find time to watch this as it clearly articulates how it was for individuals who did reside in these institutions.

Did this documentary blow all of you away? It certainly did for me; I can’t believe and am still astound at the treatments used on patients, especially removing and the burning of parts of the brain. Shocking! Did this move and overwhelm you the way it did me???

Reference
Brunton, W. (2011). Mental health services - Lunatic asylums, 1840s to 1900s'. Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand. Retrieved from http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/mental-health-services/2