Nellie Bly wrote “Ten Days in a Madhouse” to introduce her findings of the conditions of some of the American insane asylums to the world. She got herself thrown into the “Lunatic Asylum” so she could report from the inside and find out the truth. Bly found that the patients were treated so poorly it could make anyone go insane. Some people may think that it is an okay way to treat the insane because they are insane and they don’t deserve much better and they think it is helping them. Except they are still human and aren’t even proven to all actually be insane, many are just thought to be, considering Nellie Bly wasn’t insane but got herself thrown into the insane asylum very easily. The claims reported by Bly are supported by many other historical texts. The historical texts help form the interpretation of the literary text by pointing out all of the same problems and poor conditions of the patients in the insane asylums and also goes to show it was more than just one asylum. These occurrences that Nellie experienced were happening in institutions like this one all over the United States.

Insane Asylums are known for being disturbing and not treating the “insane” with much respect. In 1881, The British Medical Journal published an article about American Insane Asylums. They reported that many of the patients being treated in this asylum were being treated very poorly. Many of them were in restraint jackets, some being in the jackets for months or even years. Imagine being tied up in a jacket for even just a few hours. Anyone would be annoyed. Being retrained for months could make the healthiest human being go insane, therefore, who is that really helping. No one. This journal also talked about seclusion of the world. If someone is cooped up in the same place for years after years doing the same thing day after day and nothings changing or giving you hope that maybe one day you will get better, then you never will get better. Why change if nothing else around you will. Later on in this article The British Medical Journal tells the reader that they abolished the restraints and burned the restraining jackets. The restraint jackets and seclusion of patients was a very big issue considering Dr. J. C. Shaw, a medical super intendant said “I found a large number of patients in restraint-jackets, straps, and seclusion; some of them had been in restraint for months, and even for years.” (pp 19) The staff agreed it was the right thing to do even if they were used to the old ways. Although, that was only one insane asylum in all of America so not all of them stopped using the restraining jackets. Even though they all should have stopped. In the second article written by Lee-Ann Monk, the writer talked more about the workers of the insane asylums in the 1800s but written in a point of view from 2009 looking back in history to those times. This historical text tells the readers that the workers are supposed to be unskilled people and it is kind of a “last resort job” although that’s not the case for all of the employees. It is so “last resort” that some of the workers were actually ex-convicts that can’t really get many other jobs. No wonder they treated the patients very poorly.

In Nellie Bly’s “Ten Days in a Madhouse” you really get a feel for what living in an insane asylum in the 1800s would have really been like. The first second she gets into the insane asylum she thinks the nurses may be nice and they keep everything nice and in order. She then comes to find a few days later the nurses are rude to the patients, especially when the patients don’t do what the nurses say and they don’t keep anything in order. In chapter eight and nine, it showed the doctors evaluations of the said to be “insane” patients. The doctor barley paid them any attention and when he did listen to what they had to say he didn’t really care. One of the patients tried to plead her absence of insanity and the doctor wouldn’t give her a chance even though her explanation was very rational. It’s like the doctors just assumed they were all insane without giving them a free trial to clear their name. Nellie Bly says “Compare this with a criminal, who is given every chance to prove his innocence” (pp 283). This reminds the readers once again that these people are getting treated with no respect and may not even all be mentally insane. Even when getting supper, they were treated like trash. To get their food for the night they all had to stand in a crowded cold hallway and the portions were small and some patients would steal other people’s food. The food was apparently not very tasty but you have no other options so you are practically forced to eat food you don’t even like. That is not the only thing they were forced to do. The workers also forced the sick patients to get undressed. If they tried to refuse to get undressed the workers would undress them anyway. The bath water was ice cold and they weren’t even allowed to bathe themselves. The workers had to bathe them and they were not gentle in doing so. Other patients sat and watched all of this happen to one another knowing they would be next. How can someone not go insane from this kind of treatment. It is very similar to the way people get treated in jail.

The articles written by The British Medical Journal and Lee-Ann Monk relate closely with Nellie Bly’s book, “Ten Days in a Madhouse.” They support her claims about the conditions that the “mentally insane” are treated under. As you can see in the previous paragraphs, Nellie writes about her experiences in an insane asylum in the mid 1880s. When Bly got herself thrown into the asylum to see what is taking place in them and how they are being treated she came to find that the patients are treated so poorly it could make the most normal person go insane.  If you are told you are crazy and treated like you are crazy, then eventually you will go crazy. Nellie wrote about a lot of the patients being seemingly normal and not looking as if they belonged there. There was even a patient that spoke German and no nurse or any of the staff could understand so was she really insane or did they just assume so. They were given very restricted schedules and couldn’t do anything outside of what they were told they were able to do. Some people may think this kind of treatment is fair for the patients and will help them but how could it. When you are confined to the same daily schedule and are treated poorly you will go insane no matter what. She wrote about a time that she just had to sit there for two straight hours and not move, talk, read, or anything. Just sit there in silence with her back facing another person.  The British Medical Journal supported Nellies claims about the poor treatment of the patients by saying “Some of the insane asylums have failed of their purpose through mismanagement, or misconception of proper methods to be used.” (pp 19)

Reading Nellie Bly’s “Ten Days in a Madhouse” and the two articles written by Lee-Ann Monk and The British Medical Journal it was clear that insane asylums were not a place anyone would ever wish to be and could have made the crazy even crazier. After reading the two articles about the history of the insane asylums I realized my perception of Bly’s writing was altered a little bit. After reading the raw historical outside view it made Bly’s inside view become even more real and I found myself wanting to go back and see for myself. It really sucks the reader into the time of the 1800’s before everything was fixed to what it is now. Reading Bly’s writings and the articles gives you the whole picture. Without Bly’s piece the reader of the articles would only be able to see an outside view looking in.

After reading the historical texts and the literary text, it gave a full idea of what the insane asylums were like in the late 1800s. The literary text written by Nellie Bly told the readers a lot about the actual conditions the patients are treated under. Obviously Bly was very dedicated to her reporting job to be able to get herself thrown into an insane asylum for a few weeks just to share the information with others. It was very helpful to the future of the insane asylums considering this report of hers made some of the American insane asylums get looked into and improved upon. Who knows if they would have ever gotten better without her writing. Back in those times, some people really thought that that was a smart way to treat the mentally insane. It was thought to be acceptable since they were insane and in most people’s eyes, just didn’t matter as much. Hopefully now people have realized it does matter how you treat them because if treated poorly they will never successfully become healthy. 
