The history of the British Lunatic Asylum
Background
Diagnosing, treating and understanding mental disorders has been a long process of trial and error guided by public attitudes and medical theory with each society and period of history. Most notably was the mass construction of Lunatic Asylums during the Victorian and early Edwardian years.
The first recorded psychiatric hospital in Europe was the Bethlem Royal Hospital in London, it has been a part of London since 1247 when it was built as a priory. It became a hospital in 1330 and admitted its first mentally ill patients in 1407; there were nine in total. Unfortunately the hospital became famous for its brutal treatment of its patients. At one point a penny could be paid to see the antics of the inmates; they were of a sexual and violent nature and attracted a total of 96,000 visitors in one year alone. The lunatics housed at Bethlem were first called patients in 1700; shortly after curable and incurable wards were set up which signalled a move from mental illnesses being considered an infliction to a curable diseases. Asylums were slow to catch on and during the 18th century and only nice were constructed before the first act was passed; they were all charitable institutions. It was not until after 1780 that asylums were built on a mass scale around the UK, it was around this time that the system became standardised across the country and the local arrangements were abolished. The first major act was passed in 1808 with an aim to provide a 'retreat' for the pauper lunatics found up and down the country who could not afford the private asylums and were housed incorrectly in prisons and workhouses. At their peak, the asylums housed over 100,000 patients.
From the passing of the Asylum Act in 1808 the United Kingdom saw the beginning of the mass construction of asylums around the county; however only 20 were built in the first twenty years of its enactment. The act recognised lunatics as being ill and that they would require admittance to the correct institution for their recovery; the act empowered the local Justices of Peace to build asylums within there district using local funding. However due to yearly elections most Justice's did not enforce the act as they did not want the expense to be attributed to them. This led to the majority of mentally ill people being held in jails and receiving incorrect treated, a change was urgently required.
Due to the Campaign for Lunacy Reform, led by Lord Shaftesbury, the Victorian Government passed the Lunacy and County Asylum Act in 1845; this was the basis of the Mental Health Law up until 1890. This Act revolutionised the treatment of mentally ill persons from that of prisoners to patients; however, when a patient entered the asylum they lost their right to access the courts and protest their incarceration. This Act also saw the beginning of the lunacy commission who were responsible for overseeing the treatment of patients and the conduct within the asylum. The lunacy Commission also reported to the Home Secretary regarding the plans for the building of new asylums. The Act also made it compulsory for every county and borough in the United Kingdom to provide or erect a purpose built Asylum to house the mentally ill. Both Acts stipulated that an asylum should be placed in an airy country side position, but near to an urban setting; the purpose of this was to provide the patients with a safe village like community for them to recover in. For further information regarding the Lunacy Commission and County Asylum Act please click here - The Lunacy Commission.
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