Twentieth annual report of the Suffolk Lunatic Asylum : December, 1857.

  • Suffolk Lunatic Asylum.
Date:
[1858]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Twentieth annual report of the Suffolk Lunatic Asylum : December, 1857. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    each case requires its particular treatment. There should he variety of accommodation, to meet variety of habits and fancies. Some patients to whom the very “grass-hopper is a burden” will prefer single rooms; others, fearful of being left alone, will entreat to be placed in companionship. It is de¬ sirable, as far as possible, to comply with each individual request; and to yield to each individual’s inclination in the hope of cure; with the remembrance always before us, that there need be nothing in the privacy of the single room or in the amplitude of the extended dormitory, to obstruct the exer¬ cise of that kindness which has been so graphically expressed as capable of being “ drawn even through a key-hole.” The habitual remembrance and application of this maxim, is the most valuable characteristic in an attendant, and to train each to the attainment and retention of it, under anxieties and occasional embarrassments, is not always an easy task. The services of well qualified attendants, persons with intelligence enough to discern those varying feelings which exist in sad disarray within the mind; and humanity enough to bear with the wayward exhibitions of those with whom they daily associate, cannot be over-valued. It is very difficult to imbue the mind of the sane man with the conviction that the mis¬ chievous and outrageous acts of the insane are constantly motiveless. An instance presents itself in proof that they are so. A patient was visited a short time ago in the night by the Assistant Surgeon, as he was making a great noise in his room; he found him hammering away at the wall with a piece of the bedstead which he had broken: on being urged to be quiet, his innocent reply was, “pray stand out of the way, or I shall hurt you.” The House is now very full: too full on the female side; we want space in that part of the Building more particularly devoted to that class somewhat inaccurately called refractory. The suggestion of the Commissioners (as formerly noticed) is