Colonizing Madness

Insanity in a Sea of Islands: Mobility and Mental Health in Aotearoa New Zealand’s Pacific Sphere

“…His initial request for these patients to be transferred to Fiji-where drug and shock therapy was being introduced-was declined, because the mental hospital there was severely overcrowded. 69 Mental hospitals were also overcrowded in New Zealand, 70 but efforts were made to transfer to there the patients from Niue, who "badly need skilled psychiatric treatment." The director of mental health informed the medical superintendent at the Auckland Mental Health Hospital that he was reluctant to accept all of the referrals from Niue.…”

“…17 Most people suffering from mental health issues within Pacific communities lived and worked within their communities, and when ill, were cared for, tolerated, and treated with compassion. 18 Jonathan Sadowsky's comment on colonial Nigeria applies as well to the Pacific; "madness appears to be a feature of all known human societies, but one that nevertheless has distinctive features in each." 19 As put by sociologist Andrew Scull in his survey of Madness in Civilization, madness extends beyond the medical grasp.…”

Mental Health Services in the Northeastern Province of British India: Tezpur Lunatic Asylum, 1876–1947

“…The most pertinent matter in exploring the institutional history of asylums is the nature of their admission policies (Ernst, 2013: 27). Discussing the nature of asylum in colonial contexts, several studies have refuted Foucault’s later theory of ‘great containment’, but agreed with his concept of describing the role of asylum as a place to create ‘disciplined bodies’ (Jackson, 2005: 188; Leckie, 2020: 29; McCulloh, 1995: 44). Extensive research on colonial psychiatry of India in the nineteenth century has shed light on the nature of asylums (Ernst, 2010; Mills, 2000; Sharma, 1990).…”