Course:History 344 Nasty Families/Calamities/Asylums

The Bedlam Asylum

By today’s standards, the asylums in the seventeenth century were terrible places that very seldom cured or helped a patient. One asylum specifically was the Bedlam asylum located in London, which was “a hospital devoted solely to the confinement of the mentally ill” (1). This asylum was quite famous and was known for being a place of complete confusion. In 1623 King Charles I launched an investigation into the asylum which found the owner had not been doing his job and was fired, and the asylum was reorganized and had to keep more records (2). Fortunately the asylum escaped the London fires, but ended up being moved to another location as the rebuilt London emphasized the terrible condition of the original building (3).

Later in the seventeenth century and throughout the eighteenth century the Bedlam asylum became a tourist attraction and “viewing violent patients and their antics was considered entertainment” (4). One problem with the Bedlam asylum, like any asylum even to present, it is very easy to be placed in an asylum, but extremely difficult to get out. If a person in the seventeenth century was placed in an asylum it would most likely be a death sentence. They would likely have had their humors ‘balanced’ while there and been either chained to the wall or placed in a cell for their own ‘well-being’ or safety.

(1) Davison, Gerald C., Kirk R. Blankstein, Gordon L. Flett, and John M. Neale. Abnormal Psychology: Third Canadian Edition. United States of America: John Wiley & Sons Canada Ltd, 2008. Page 9. (2) Porter, Roy. “Bethlem/Bedlam methods of madness?”. History Today, 47, no. 10 (1997): 42. Accessed on April 4, 2012. URL: http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/ehost/detail?sid=64bbc0b8-0e97-42e0-8b5b-57c464a97b34%40sessionmgr111&vid=8&hid=106&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=30h&AN=9711051658. (3) IBID. (4) Davison, et al. Page 9.