Ten Days In A Madhouse Analysis

In order for the mental health facility reform discussion to be brought into public conversation people resulted to sharing personal experiences. A reporter under the alias Nellie Bly admitted herself into a temporary boarding house for women. While there, she feigned insanity, which got her committed to Blackwell’s Island, a terrifying mental institution. Here she journaled her experiences, which she published in a series of articles called Ten Days in a Madhouse.
Blackwell’s Island is an example of how uncommitted the government was to mental health prior to reform. The institution was originally a safe haven where patients would receive humane and moral therapy, but it became the opposite when funding was cut. In her book, she recorded