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| Documentary watched |
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| "Dr. Francis Willis" demonstrating "The Eye" |
Throughout the film, the story of the famed mental hospital is told by historians who explain it's origins as a hospital, many of the strange characters that resided or worked within the secret building, and even King George III who was known to suffer great bouts of madness throughout his reign with the addition of dramatic reenactments of such events. This method of storytelling works quite well and keeps the audience quite entertained. One such reenactment involved King George's Psychiatric physician at the time Dr. Francis Willis who had the ability to control patients who were too boisterous and could be violent by using "The Eye". Basically, his gaze was so oppressive, it would subdue even the most unruly of patients. Though quite comedic,
it's interesting to see the types of treatment methods created by these doctors. Many treatments most likely would be considered torture in this day and age including submerging them in cold water for hours at a time, bloodletting, purging, and burning them. Though done with good intentions. they frequently did nothing.
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| Hydrotherapy Bath |
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| The "Air Loom" |
There are no elements of media as this is a very historical documentary, though there is another source of info, and it comes from the story of James Tilly Matthews, a patient in Bethlem who was committed after interrupting a debate in the House of Commons by shouting "Treason!" at Lord Liverpool which prompted his arrest beforehand. Though his family tried to free James, the apothecary of Bethlem, John Haslam, fought the motion and eventually won, especially after the publication of "Illustrations of Madness" which was a collection of interviews from Matthews. These regarded various subjects about mind control by the means of a machine known as the Air Loom powered by the french with such terms as "Lobster Cracking" and "Stomach Skinning". Sounds quite reminiscent of modern day conspiracy theories regarding government mind control via satellites and aliens doesn't it? Through this publication, we have the first case study of a person with obvious schizophrenia. James Tilly Matthews, despite his bewildering mental process, was quite brilliant, and was given many freedoms within the hospital, such as tending to a garden.
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| "Melancholia and Mania" by Caius Gabriel Cibber which adorned the entrance of Bethlem in 1676 |
There is no obvious bias in the film, it clearly tells you all that went on in Bethlem and that is why it fits well with my research, it connects in such a way that it shows the difference between institutions then and them now. There are pros and cons to both. On one hand, Bethlem was ahead of it's time, and many people were able to get treatment, but these people were manipulated and exploited by being put on display for anyone who was willing to pay and walk the halls of the hospital, thus making them a tourist attraction essentially. As for it's modern day counterpart, people are not exploited whatsoever, and they are getting treatment that actually helps their conditions, but there are so few places to go, not to mention many do not seek treatment due to the stigma associated with mental illness that could be attributed to historical representations of it, such as what happened in Bethlem Royal Hospital...
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| The O'Hallon's Swing |
For the second half of this portion, I decided to propose a field trip opportunity to the Glore Psychiatric Museum in St. Joseph, Missouri, which is roughly 7 and 1/2 hours from Eau Claire. Formerly held in a ward of the once defunct State Lunatic Asylum #2 until moving to an expansive building nearby to make room for the asylum to be turned into a prison, the museum was the brainchild of an employee of the Missouri mental health system George Glore. Opened in 1967, it has been in operation ever since and features a variety of exhibits, four floors worth in fact, that entail the history of treatments such as a human sized hamster wheel, a working model of an "O'Hallon's Swing" which would spin an unruly patient at 100 rpm, and more "modern" treatments like the lobotomy and fever cabinets used during George's time working in the system. All of these are shown with mannequins that we happily donated by a department store. There is even a Bethlem exhibit (How perfect, right?)
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| Collage of swallowed objects |
As well as a history of treatments, there is also an entire collection within itself regarding patient art. Such legacies include a collage of 1,446 items extracted from a woman's stomach, which were, but not limited to, 453 nails, 42 screws, safety pins, spoon tops, and salt and pepper shakers. Another patient collected over 100,000 cigarette boxes, which he thought would get him a new wheelchair from the cigarette companies. There are many more, including a lot of contemporary art.
Though George passed in 2010, the museum still thrives, and is open Monday - Saturday: 10am - 5pm, and Sundays: 1pm - 5pm. It is closed on all major holidays.
Tickets are extremely cheap:
Adults: $6.00
Seniors (62 and above): $5.00
Students: $4.00
Children under 6: Free
Museum Members: Free
For more information regarding this possible field trip location:
http://stjosephmuseum.org/museums/glore/
Documentary Annotation:
Documentary Annotation:
Bedlam: The History of Bethlem Hospital. Dir. Joe Matthews. Perf. Timothy Watson, Jonathan Andrews. The History Channel, 2009. Film.
Bethlem Royal Hospital in the UK has a sordid history which eventually led to the colloquially accurate nickname of Bedlam, which means chaos. Along with backgrounds of the more prolific residents at the hospital, including Margaret Nicholson who attempted to assassinate King George III, as well as the doctors and apothecaries who became famous for their now torturous treatment of patients under their care.The documentary is strictly very factual and history based. Because of this, there is no obvious bias and is helpful in showing how mental health facilities functioned in the very early days of treatment for those who wouldn't have gotten help otherwise.This definitely fits well with my capstone because I’m focusing on history for this part of my research and was looking for something that spoke of the earlier days.