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Asylums In The Early 1900s

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Whereas mental asylums in the 1870s focused on methodology, lunatic asylums in the early 1900s tackled the issue of sanitation and communicable diseases. Beginning in 1912, the Indian Government, under the influence of the Britain, passed the Indian Lunacy Act of 1912.14 This act specified guidelines for the management of mental asylums, including various procedures for admissions and standards of care.14 At this time, changes were also occurring structurally within the mental asylums in Britain.14 These changes were transforming the care of the mentally ill into a more professional setting.14 As a result, British India underwent similar transformations to the structure of their cells and the status of mental conditions. For instance, controlling …show more content…

The British tried to raise interest of mental hygiene by changing the landscape where mental patients were held.11 These changes were the start of understanding that “prevention and environmental hygiene had long been neglected.”11 Health services needed to be strengthened if the British wanted to have a functioning workforce in India. Similarly, they divided their attention to communicable diseases that were killing patients. In 1920, Major General Jennings wrote to the Secretary of Bombay that the “daily average sick was 580 as compared with 614 in the previous years.”8 In addition, he reported that “the chief causes of deaths at the several Mental Hospitals were Tuberculosis 17, Diarrhea 14, Anemia 9, Diseases of the Heart 13, Dysentery 10, and Pneumonia 11.”8 These records reveal important information about the conditions of mental asylums. First, Major General Jennings word choice implies that the term lunatic asylums has been changed to “Mental Hospitals.”8 The change in terminology symbolizes the idea that mental health does not imply that the individual is a lunatic. Rather, the term “hospital” shows a transition and acceptance of mental illness as a health problem. Individuals struggle with a variety of problems and the goal of the facility is not to confine or isolate these problems, but to help those in need of medical

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