Psychiatric Hospitals

The crazy house, asylum, and jail, are all common names for the psychiatric hospital. Dating back to the medieval era, mental institutions have been around and they have each served their purpose; both good and bad. In Europe, London and England housed one hundred inmates in public asylums. Nowadays, these hospitals are given discreet names or are no longer in existence. Back then they had very harsh names such as Hospital for the Lunatics, and the Liverpool Lunatic Asylum. In the United States, Virginia was the first to have a institution for the mentally ill. Eastern State Hospital, located in Williamsburg, was incorporated in 1768 under the name of the “Public Hospital for Persons of Insane and Disordered Minds” and its first patients were admitted in 1773. A questionable factor of these hospitals is that they were built in wooded areas that are somewhat away from the rest of society. What was life like behind those doors? Is it true that these hospitals shut down because of the patients claiming that they were abused? Why are they built in a way to resemble huge mansions?

The actual cause of mental illness is not known, but as research continues, some causes might evolve from psychological issues, genetics, biological, and environmental problems. Many mental illnesses run in families, suggesting they may be passed on from parents to children through genes as an example of the genetic issue. Some mental illnesses may be triggered by psychological trauma suffered as a child, such as severe emotional, or physical abuse. Serious mental illnesses include major depression, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), panic disorder, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). In history, people thought that mental patients could not be cured. That is a false statement. Mental illness can be cured through different types of therapy, counseling, but the downside is that the individual has to continue with the treatment for a long