Ten Days in A Mad-House: Illustrated and Annotated: A First-Hand Account of Life At Bellevue Hospital on Blackwell's Island in 1887

Would have given this a 5-star if not for the typos and poor editing. Took a while to get used to the phraseology of the late 1800's, but that was a good exercise of the brain. Difficult to read and try to understand how people could be so cruel back then. But worth the read. Recommend.

Loved this book. Quick read and had to be some of the first investigation journalism, and though I felt it lacked some better detail; it was 3 great stories that were breakthroughs for the times.

I have always wanted to read this book. It is easy to read. There are quite a few typos. It gives the real history of what mental institutions used to be, and I sure hope it has gotten better. This is part of all of our histories, our country's history.

About time I read a non-fiction book! And I picked a great one! As it says in my bio, I LOVE anything about asylums, mad-houses, or psychiatric hospitals. For some reason, the historian in me geeks out and the little seen horror freak comes out. Don’t ask me why, I’ve tried to explain it, but I can’t, I just love them. In These Shallow Graves by Jennifer Donnelly, her main character, Jo Montfort, looks up to Nellie Bly as a journalist and a woman who works for change. That intrigued me, so I found Bly’s account and read it in 24 hours. It was inspiring, maddening, and heart breaking all at once. Nellie actually faked insanity to be committed to the Blackwell’s Island Insane Asylum. That may sound romantic to the rest of us, but during 1887, it was a nightmare. Her assignment was to give an accurate account of the plight of the insane from beginning to end. The thing that annoyed me the most was the commitment process. She saw a couple of doctors who asked her a short list of questions and then declared her a hopeless case of insanity. Though thankfully, they admitted that her pulse and heartbeat didn’t evidence insanity . . . yes that was indeed sarcasm. Even at Bellevue Hospital, the conditions were primitive, at best. No heat, no extra clothing. The asylum on Blackwell’s Island was even worse. The food was minimum and mostly spoiled. The nurses beat and bullied the patients. But the most surprising thing to me, was the daily activities of the patients. From 6 AM-8 PM, they sat on hard benches, not allowed to talk, to move, to slouch. 14 hours of sitting straight and quiet was their main “treatment”. Anyone would be insane after a couple days of that! Fortunately, Nellie’s story incited a slew of changes in the treatment of the insane in New York State. “The committee of appropriation provides $1,000,000 more than was ever before given, for the benefit of the insane.” So thankfully the most basic of problems were addressed with the publication of this story. But modern day mental health still has way too many problems. My husband is a Physician Assistant at the Emergency Department so he sees his fair share of insane patients coming through. I always press him about the process that each patient and doctor and policeman have to go through to get someone committed to a psych ward. Sometimes it’s as simple as someone trying to commit suicide or even admitting that they want to. But those people usually only stay for a night. They are then released after consulting psychiatrist. There are other more serious cases that have to go through the court system. As long as one doctor signs off on a commitment order, that patient can be committed to a short term psychiatric facility. When I asked about any long term facilities, Ivan informed me that there are none. The modern mental health system is dependent on pharmaceuticals. When I asked about those patients who won’t take their medication or those for whom medication doesn’t help, he just shrugged. We’ve discussed mental health many times and he always shows such frustration for the current process. People can still be committed by family members who just can’t be bothered to care for their loved ones or are trying to take advantage of them. There are still people walking the streets who legitimately belong under 24 hour psychiatric supervision. And there are no longer any long term facilities available for those who need them. Sadly, there are still too many changes that need to be made and problems to be fixed. I absolutely recommend this book to anyone in the mental health system and to most medical professionals. Anyone who enjoys history would also enjoy this book.

what a great book!! You must read!!

Nellie Bly was a woman ahead of her time. A female "muckraker." Investigative reporters (good ones) were few during the Gilded Age, and female ones were all but unheard of. But Bly was the exception. She took on assignments that most men would have refused.In this case, she had herself committed to one of the worst asylums, New York's infamous Blackwell Island, in order to ferret out the truth about how the facility was run. At the time, any person, mostly women, could be committed for virtually no reason other than the say-so of whomever filed the commitment petition. And confinement was usually open-ended. Women were judged insane simply because they argued with others too often or "looked insane." And these women would be housed with the truly insane or dangerous.The only drawback to this work ... and it's very minor ... is the writing style. It can get wordy. But that is a very minor issue as that was simply the style of the time. Aside from that, it's an excellent glimpse into another age.And in addition to her work on the asylum, this book also contains her investigative work on other social issues of the time.This work is an excellent companion piece to "Damnation Island."

What a story.

I saw the movie for this and although the movie was not great, the story was interesting. Once I saw it was a real story I ordered the book. It is actually still very relevant in regards to how we view and treat mental health. What is crazy? There is two short stories as well; which, again very similar to pay and conditions of workers today. Quick read and the print was a nice size.

Ameno

Una grande Donna con la D maiuscola. Adoro lei e adoro questo libro!!! Consigliato!!!!

Thank you for sending me this original book. I really appreciate that. Regarding from BRAZIL!

I loved the bravery of this journalist so long ago to get herself admitted into a psychiatric hospital. I admire what doing so achieved. The descriptions are horrendous and makes me happy that some things definitely have changed for the better!

Very disappointed with the quality of the book.