
Within the story Ten Days in a Mad- House, news reporter Nellie Bly goes undercover in order to truly expose the inadequate treatment towards the stigma of mental illness in women. Throughout this personal encounter of the horrific ten days, one can gain an insight on what it was really like to be institutionalized without proper cause. It is especially important to use her experience as a learning about women’s health and inform one on how to correctly assess and treat it. Ten days in a Mad- House is being used to help exemplify or show awareness to the frivolous diagnosis of mental illness towards women.

Upon Bly’s entrance into the asylum, she sought to experience how women’s mental illness was assessed and treated. At the time that this occurred, in 1887, the development of knowledge towards women’s mental health was still very inaccurate. According to Laura Briggs, hysteria in women was often used to help fathom the idea of a women’s increasing role in society (246). For many years prior to Bly’s experience women have not had an equal amount of opportunities as men have had, therefore setting their opportunity for a voice in the public to be absent, however, as the time moves on, so does the role of women in the public. This important when considering the experience that Bly had to endure because as she was tested for her “mental illness” it was obvious that the test was not one that could be trusted to decipher the insane from the sane. The encounter with the Doctor and his treatment towards the female staff is also seen to evoke this type of behavior that occurred at this time towards women, mainly because in it can he been seen talking down to the women. It is also important to note another aspect of Briggs’ findings towards women’s mental health, what would be characterized as a symptom. Fertility and reproductive issues as well as nervousness are only few of the many different reasons as to why a women would be considered hysterical (Briggs 246). Along with other symptoms such as menstrual-related anger, postpartum depression, pregnancy-related sadness overall, chronic fatigue, anxiety, as well as disobedience did there seem to be a reason to diagnose a women with a mental illness during the victorian times (Dual Diagnosis). When considering this information from Briggs this can also be exemplified in the diagnosis of the Nellie Bly and some of the other women she was institutionalized improperly with, along with the tests that were being used to judge their sanity.  To build upon the statements of Briggs, people were often locked up in places similar to jails, denied of communication with the outside world, and were often mistreated. According to Dorothea Dix, a woman who conducted a study on the treatment of patients:

I admit that public peace and security are seriously endangered by the non-restraint of the maniacal insane. I consider it in the highest degree improper that they should be allowed to range the towns and country without care or guidance; but this does not justify the public in any state or community, under any circumstances or conditions, in committing the insane to prisons. (Dual Diagnosis)

Within this quote and study conducted by Dix, along with the work of Nellie Bly, can the true cruelty behind the treatment towards the mentally ill be truly evident. Hysteria, especially during this time, was a word used to cope with the increased need for women in the public eye. With the accusation of the slightest more than normal feeling or mood, consequently a woman would be called hysterical or beaten down by a mental illness. This is very important because while the word “hysteria” was thrown around loosely during the Victorian times, it was still residing while Nellie Bly went inside of Blackwell's Island Lunatic Asylum and still does reside to this day. 

Mental illnesses have been instilled in the role of women within literature for many years, the greatest example and most questionable case would that of Bertha Mason. In Jane Eyre written by Charlotte Bronte, the former lover of the head of household is locked away and characterized to be mad. It is in this representation of the insane woman that many questions arise that were similar to those of Bly’s experience. In this article Donaldson argues the difference between impairment and disability, discussing that in order to address both is very important in the diagnosis of a mental illness (14). Within these two topics Donaldson also focuses on the idea that while everyone suffers from impairments and extreme cases are disabilities, it is also when the subject is isolated around only those impairments which forces them to become disabilities (14). Within this idea of Donaldson, can the experience of Bly, along with other women that she befriended, also be explained mainly because she said that with the conditions of both the patients and institution, it was enough to make anyone go crazy. Similarly, Bertha Mason’s story as to how and or why she was locked in the tower is not told from her standpoint in  Jane Eyre, however from the man of the household. This is also important to note because the publication of Jane Eyre was around forty years prior to Ten Days in a Mad- House, meaning that the stigma towards women’s health was even more prominent, furthermore concluding that with the story being told from the man’s point of view would count the accusation of mental disability among Bertha to be wrong. The article written by Donaldson is very important to consider, especially when evaluating the image of women in the media and how that can coincide with reality. 

When evaluating Bly’s purpose for this brave stunt, especially during this time, one must look at her as a reporter and where the inspiration came from, her personal life. At a very young age Elizabeth Jane Cochran’s, known by her pen name Nellie Bly, father died, leaving behind financial burdens on Bly’s mother, who at the time had no legal authority to handle the finances of her husband’s especially as a woman (Harley 280). This along with the treatment she, her mother, and her many siblings received from her new stepfather is what help to fuel her desire for women’s rights. According to American Experience, Bly stumbled across a news article discussing that the role of women was of the domestic life, which is something that she knew was not true. After reading the article she wrote the paper company and they then gave her the pen name Nellie Bly, which she would then use to write numerous pieces on the perspectives of the working woman (American Experience). It was at the time that she stepped in the office of New York World, that the story of her Ten days in the Mad-House arose. This brave type of reporting ignited many other undercover investigating stories that she would refer to as “stunt-reporting” (American Experience). As seen throughout her life as a child she was exposed to the injustice towards women and the fact that they were unfairly not granted any rights in the public eye. From her father dying and her having to take on a role at an early age, to seeking work in order to help her mother with finances, she was exposed to this evil truth at a very early age. This is very important to consider when evaluating the purpose for faking insanity and purposely being admitted into an insane asylum, this was done because of the injustice towards women. It is also significant to note the time period as to which this was occurring, the same time as to which society’s understanding of women’s mental health was also not up to par as was the men’s, leading them to frequently misdiagnose women for frivolous reasons. All are important factors and can explain as to why she was willing to go undercover and report, especially during a time that women were not appreciated especially on the level of mental wellness. 

Nellie Bly’s impact on the subjects of women’s mental health is definitely one that was not yet exercised in the journalistic world, which makes the experience one that had an impact. With Bly’s stunt-reporting, one was exposed to the true horror that does happen inside of asylums. Whether it is her descriptions of the doctors, the inedible food resulting in the starvation of patients, the harsh cold baths, or the isolation in the bedroom, every inappropriate practice was all revealed. Along with the women who were admitted unfairly, referring to the women who seemed virtually sane. Overall, this shined light on the inappropriate doings towards the mentally ill, while also opening room for improvement and the ideas of new methods towards studying and treating the mental illness. While these did occur several years after Ten Days in a Mad- House, new methods such as insulin- induced comas, lobotomies, malarial infections, and electroshock therapy, as well as chemical methods however those did arise until mid- twentieth century (Dual Diagnosis). According to Dual Diagnosis the techniques of treatment did work however, only in the extreme cases leaving the practices to ultimately fail and fall out of practice. Then came the time period of deinstitutionalization movement, when many of the mentally ill were taken out of their prisons and cages and put back into the public however, this did take some time for the citizens to get used too and the houses they were offred were not of better conditions than the asylum (Dual Diagnosis). The inadequate housing could account for many things, the social stigma of mental illness, the still residing of mistreatment towards the mentally ill, and also a lack of support for the mental illness, whether severe or not. According to Dual Diagnosis, however the conditions for the mentally ill within the real world did become more stable and successful and many different social workers and mental health counselors have intervened, while allowing them to remain in the public eye, along with improvement on the laws that are now instilled to assist them in their individual lives.

The progression of women’s mental health over the many years can be seen as one that is very positive, especially when looking at the time of the victorian era to present day. Women’s mental health was first introduced into society as being a tool to cope with the idea that women could possibly how a place in the public voice. If a woman experienced any mood of that diverged just slightly from normal, suffered from depression, was disobedient, or suffered from anxiety, she would be pronounced hysterical and sent to a mental institution. Not only did this affect women in the public eye, but also in literature making women assume the same ideal of a women and furthermore playing into the assumption of insanity, for example in Jane Eyre. The ex-wife Bertha Mason is locked inside of a tower alone, yet the story is told by the man of the household leading to it possibly being inaccurate, especially due to the findings of Donaldson can one further understand why this is a problem. Mainly because while impairments and disabilities can occur within people, it is when the person is isolated with nothing but those impairments to focus on that those impairments then turn into disabilities, which can possibly explain the extreme case of Bertha Mason. Another important aspect to understand is the inspiration behind this the brave journalism stunt for Nellie Bly, which was her personal life. Growing up she essentially watched her mother struggle financially after the death of her father and knew from a young age that the domestic role of a woman was not enough to help a family and that it required an active role in the public. This served as the main inspiration for the stunt that she pulled at Blackwell’s Island Lunatic Asylum and why she wanted to expose the wrongdoings that were happening to women. Due to this fact, she did help bring awareness to the hideous treatment of mentally ill women and reveal the injustice for the women who were wrongfully admitted. This did help contribute to the various movements for better conditions overall and better opportunities at giving the mentally ill a chance of a normal life. Ten days in a Mad- House was definitely used to show the hidden truth behind what it meant to be treated as a mentally ill women and to help show awareness of women’s mental health.
