The Cost of Insanity in Nineteenth-Century Ireland

Abstract

Covering all historical periods and geographical contexts, the series explores how mental illness has been understood, experienced, diagnosed, treated and contested. It will publish works that engage actively with contemporary debates related to mental health and, as such, will be of interest not only to historians, but also mental health professionals, patients and policy makers. With its focus on mental health, rather than just psychiatry, the series will endeavour to provide more patient-centred histories. Although this has long been an aim of health historians, it has not been realised, and this series aims to change that.The scope of the series is kept as broad as possible to attract good quality proposals about all aspects of the history of mental health from all periods. The series emphasises interdisciplinary approaches to the field of study, and encourages short titles, longer works, collections, and titles which stretch the boundaries of academic publishing in new ways.

Gender and madness in nineteenth‐century Britain

“…Akihito Suzuki's rich study of the first half of the 19th century demonstrates families' deep involvement in psychiatric care, and an increasing pressure from government and medical authorities to determine that care (Suzuki, 2006). Mauger's exploration of nine institutions catering to all classes of Irish citizens provides a nuanced account of why families resorted to asylum, and when they did not (2017). As Shepherd notes, even when families had no choice over the care of their mad relations in the context of criminal insanity, they still retained intimately connected to their loved ones (2020).…”

Conceptualizing work-related mental distress in the British coalfields (c.1900–1950)

“…So let us start with asylum records, where recent historical research has begun to explore the extent to which medical and lay commentators viewed work-related factors as a cause of mental breakdown. Psychiatrists were more inclined to view overwork as a cause of mental breakdown in middle-class as opposed to working-class patients (Melling, 2014; Melling, 2004; Suzuki, 2007), and Alice Mauger notes that work and finance was the leading moral cause listed for male patients in admissions documentation for fee-paying asylum admissions in nineteenth-century Ireland (2018, p. 153). Yet within Irish pauper asylums in the same era, medical officers also recognized that adverse economic circumstances could have a detrimental impact on patients’ mental states, viewing men’s failure to provide for their families in particular as a cause of insanity (Cox, 2012, p. 121).…”

The Effectiveness of a Recreational Behavioural Programme in Reducing Anger among Children with Intellectual Disabilities at the Primary Stage

“…The treatment of anger issues has become one of the most widely researched issues in the field of intellectual disabilities [ 26 , 27 , 28 ]. Recreational activities are important for individuals who suffer from psychological and behavioural problems, because recreation has the tremendous benefit of allowing individuals to vent their emotions in positive ways by engaging them in activities that they love and creating an atmosphere of joy [ 29 ]. As Hian et al [ 30 ] pointed out, it is important for individuals to engage in recreational activities in the open air due to their benefits in terms of improving their psychological and physical health.…”