
“Jail was preferable”, stated John Kennedy concerning mental health institutions. Asylums were not always seen as an environment open to those requiring mental health assistance as it is today. From when they were initially constructed to the early 1890’s, mental health centers were known as centers of cruelty. In addition to being more undesirable than incarceration, mental facilities failed to treat the patients that were admitted there. Majority of these patients consisted of women. Women were primarily sent off to mental centers when they challenged the idea that women who practiced sex before marriage freely, had their own passions, and experienced normal human functions were considered bizarre. In Nellie Bly’s “Ten Days in a Madhouse”, Bly documents her experiences of being in an insane asylum for ten days as an undercover reporter. The issues included in her book along with the issues women faced during this time influenced many writings after her time including those of now, as society continues to face some of these dilemmas. Katherine Pouba and Ashley Tianen’s “Lunacy in the 19th century: Women’s Admission to Asylums in United States of America” and “The History of Mental Illness: From "Skull Drills” to "Happy Pills" offers insight on misogyny, the overdiagnosis of mental illness, and also the mistreatment experienced in mental health institutions in the Late 1800s that Bly’s” witnesses in Ten Days in a Madhouse”.

The nineteenth century, also known as the Victorian Era, was known to be progressive. Although society experienced an upgrade, women remained overlooked during this time. This is due mostly to the fact that women continued to be considered the property of a man and their voices were muted. Females were raised to engage in labor and sex only when it benefited her husband, leaving no room for women to experience their own interests including a dream job, a hobby like writing, and even practicing sex when she wanted. This is discussed in “Lunacy in the 19th century” where Pouba and Tianen stated, “Examples are the status of women concerning their roles in marriage and employment. Women’s roles in these areas were minimal and concrete, leading to a second-rate position in society compared to men” (Poauba and Tianen). Men held authority over the women they employed, married, and raised, leaving the woman to feel and be seen as inferior. Besides having usual human tendencies, like the desire to engage in sex, it was also considered unusual for a woman to experience normal bodily functions like menstruation. Poauba and Tianen explain how it was extremely hard for these women during the Victorian Era to prevent or ignore these occurrences and tendencies and they were often deemed as mentally or physically ill. In some cases extreme measures were taken, like surgery, to remove the source of these functions. If menstruation occurred, sometimes the women were forced to remove parts of the vagina.  Another option was to receive treatment in a mental institution, which men usually opted for due to the expensive costs on surgery.  Pouba and Tienen’s claim is shown in “Ten Days in a Madhouse” when Nellie Bly has an interaction with one of the ladies, Sarah Fishbaum, committed to the asylum. Fishbaum’s husband sent her to the asylum for “having fondness with a man other than himself” (Bly). 

Misdiagnosis of mental illnesses for women became very common due to Victorian Era ideals. During her time at the institution, Bly held many conversations with the other women committed. To her surprise, many of them were sent due to simple offenses that should not have been be linked to mental illness. “Many of the symptoms women experienced according to admittance records would not make a woman eligible for admittance to a mental asylum today.” Poauba and Tianen declared, stating how behavior such as adultery and menstruation does not determine mental illness. Nellie documents in “Ten Days in a Madhouse” that one female, who she did not catch the name of, came to the institution because she was overworked and had a breakdown (Bly). Breakdowns occur when a person undergoes a large amount of stress, which is normal, needed, and is not always linked to mental disease. Bly stated this woman showed no true signs of insanity. Mrs. Hughes, Louise, and McCartney, other women who Bly conversed with, were documented to have “no traces of insanity” (Bly). Bly’s statement leads the audience to infer that these women were committed to the institution due to “symptoms” that are not connected with mental health, based off of the information provided in “Lunacy in the 19th century.  

Besides being overlooked and misdiagnosed with mental illnesses, women were also mistreated in the mental institutions. Patients were sent to receive treatment for their “illnesses”, but instead were treated worse than jail inmates. “The majority of asylums were staffed by gravely untrained, unqualified individuals who treated mentally ill patients like animals,” stated Foerschner (Foerschner). Bly documented every inhumane encounter of her and those around her in “Ten days in a Madhouse”. In one instance one of the new girls of the institution came in noisy and Mrs. Grady, one of the nurses, proceeded to give her a black eye instead of giving her medicine or therapy. The rooms Nellie and the patients were forced to stay in consisted of barred windows and locked doors, causing the patients to feel caged in. The residents were forced to sit on long uncomfortable benches without backs when it came time for dinner.  Not only were the tables uninviting, but so was the food. They were served unidentifiable beverages and bread accompanied by prunes. The ill treatment continued when it was time for the females to be bathed. Unfortunately they were not given the option to bathe themselves. Foerscnher addresses these issues claiming “a lack of basic supplies, poor bathing facilities...patients” (Foerschner). She addresses that these mental institutions, including the one at which Bly stayed, did not provide materials essential for daily activities like bathing.

Women during the Victorian era were forced to conform to the mentality that women practicing sex outside of marriage, acquiring their own hobbies, and experiencing natural incidents like getting their period, were considered unusual. Those who chose not to uphold this “normal” image were misdiagnosed as mentally ill. Once these women were committed to these mental institutions they were treated brutally. The residents of the mental institutions experienced inedible foods, uncomfortable bathing, and abuse. Nellie Bly also experienced these encounters when she was admitted to a mental center as a confidential reporter. She recorded these instances in her book “Ten days in a madhouse”. “Lunacy in the 19th century” and “The History of Mental Illness: From "Skull Drills” to "Happy Pills" provide useful information about the encounters of Bly while she was enrolled in the institution. 
