Nellie Bly’s novel “Ten Days in a Mad-House” was written in 1887, a time when mental health was not taken seriously. Mental health was not well understood and posed as a mystery for the most part. People with disabilities and/or mental health issues were usually neglected and ignored during this time period. Mental institutions were inhumane and patients were treated poorly. People with mental health problems were viewed as unimportant and as wastes of human life.  There was not much research on mental health problems so it was easy for people to misunderstand it. When mental health asylums first started popping up their purpose was not to rehabilitate but to relieve the family of the burden of a mentally ill relative. Most asylums were staffed with “gravely untrained, unqualified individuals” (Foerschner). Nellie Bly faked insanity so she could be admitted to a mental institution and write about it. She was admitted to the Women’s Lunatic Asylum for ten days and wrote her novel based on this experience. She gives readers an inside view as to what it was like in the madhouse she was admitted to. The historical context of when this novel was written is important because Nellie’s entire experience in the madhouse and her novel would be different if it took place at a different time in history. Anecdotal evidence from Nellie’s experience shows how the historical setting of the novel affects the living conditions of the madhouse.

In the first paragraph of the excerpt of Bly’s novel she notes already a “horrible stench” that is later found out to be the kitchen (Bly 281). She smells this in passing while she is in a wagon which demonstrates just how strong the smell is. This starts the story off showing that the madhouse is extremely unsanitary. Few patients “were able to eat the butter” and the nurse tells Nellie that she “’must force the food down’” because it is so disgusting (Bly 286). Nellie barely eats the first night because she is so horrified by the looks of the food she is served. The nurses and staff acknowledge how repulsive the food is that is served to the patients but they do nothing about it. Treating the patients as animals who did not deserve better food was common during this time period. Complaints of “dark, overcrowded cells, a lack of basic supplies, poor bathing facilities” were not uncommon (Foerschner). Unsanitary conditions made it even harder for patients to get better because it is hard to focus on improving mental health when the surrounding environment is vulgar. Unsanitary and inhumane practices such as “purging and bloodletting…blistering, physical restraints, threats, and straightjackets” (Foerschner) were common in these mental health asylums. The research I did proves that “conditions were less than pleasant” and truly as repulsive as Nellie described them (Foerschner).

Neglecting those with mental health disorders was not uncommon in the 1800s and early 1900s. Doctors and experts did not know much about mental health and “significant advances in psychological concepts…did not arise until…the late 1800s to early 1900s,” which explains why Nellie was neglected in the madhouse (Foerschner). When she was admitted to the madhouse in 1887 experts were just starting to understand psychological concepts. It was easier for doctors and nurses to ignore patients and view them as outcasts instead of trying to help them and figure out what it was that was causing these mental problems. For example, towards the beginning of the excerpt when she is being examined by a doctor and a nurse she says the doctor “gave the nurse more attention than he did me” and that he “took no notice of my remarks” (Bly 284). This was normal protocol at this time because there was not a lot of information on people with mental health disorders. 

The staff of the madhouse contributed to Nellie Bly’s horrible experience there. The staff used abusive tactics to keep the patients controlled and compliant such as “a slap on the ears” and “a shove and a push” (Bly 285). The research I completed proves that this is truly how it was in the 1800s and early 1900s for patients. The staff did not care about the patients and were not concerned with their mental health. They wanted the inmates to stay orderly and conform to the rules. As long as the inmates were not causing problems, they did not care how sane they were. It was often believed in the early 1800s that people with mental health problems were possessed by the devil which made it easier for people to justify abusing them. Patients would be “forced to undergo psychosurgery” (Foerschner). Mental health asylum personnel could force patients to do things that they would not voluntarily do. Nellie describes some of the inmates from the madhouse she was in as “poor crazy captives shivering” and says they “looked so lost and hopeless” (Bly 285). Nellie Bly recalls how when she started to slightly protest being bathed and the staff threatened to “use force and that it would not be very gentle’ (Bly 286). The staff in the madhouse Bly was admitted to was harsh and cruel to not only Bly but to all of the patients. Poor treatment and lack of genuine care for mental health patients lead to “the incarceration of over 100,000 mentally ill individuals in America” (Foerschner). The research I am doing explains that Nellie Bly and patients around the world in these insane asylums were treated this way because of the little intelligence the staff had on mental illness. They did not care how they treated the patients because they did not know how to treat them regardless.

Nellie Bly’s experience in the madhouse was horrific and appalling. The staff was rude and uncaring, the actual asylum itself was unsanitary, and the tactics used to keep the inmates subordinate were inhumane. She experienced firsthand what it would be like to be unlucky enough to be mentally ill during that time period. She was given disgusting food, was neglected by rude doctors, and surrounded by others who were not getting the help they needed. Mental health asylums during this time were almost always cruel and inhumane. Patients were not actually cared for and were usually disliked because of their mental health problem(s). Mental health studies have come a long way compared to what they used to be like. There was minimal research and information on mental health illnesses until the mid-1900s. The patients were viewed as outcasts. It was the norm for patients to stay in these asylums their whole life until death because they were never rehabilitated enough to go back into normal society. It was a depressing and saddening time for mental health patients in the 1800s. Luckily today there is much more information on mental health illnesses and insane asylums are much more humane. Patients in mental health asylums are now there to be rehabilitated and helped. My research shows changing perceptions of mental health and the care of those who are mentally ill. It shows how over time the stigma of mental health has decreased. The asylums are much more sanitary and the staff is much more caring. Mental health asylums are no longer just a place to get rid of an embarrassing family member, they are a place to genuinely try and better people who need help. Degrading and dangerous practices are no longer a problem in mental health asylums today. Nellie Bly’s firsthand account of being in a madhouse, as a sane person, was an eyeopener to many about the change that needed to take place in these asylums. My research allowed me to see how horrible asylums used to be and how much better they are now. When I first read “Ten Days in a Madhouse” I did not completely believe Nellie Bly’s story because today’s insane asylums are so humane. But my research made it clear that they have not always been how they are now and it bettered my understanding of the reading.
