Mental illness has been a controversial and confusing topic to much of the population due to how the definition and treatment has changed drastically throughout the years.  Initially, there was a stigma against those who suffered from mental illness.  In a social experiment a participant stated, “Mental illness was defined in such narrow and extreme terms that the public feared, rejected, and devalued people of mental illness” (Brown 428).  Nelly Bly, an up and coming journalistic had herself admitted into the infamous Women Lunatic asylum on Blackwell’s island to see and report on the mistreatment of the “mentally ill” admitted (Bly 280). Her story, Ten Days in a Mad House, exemplified this fear and misunderstanding of the mentally ill in the nineteenth century by explaining the mistreatment of patients, specifically women. The women were wrongfully admitted, lived in horrible conditions, and were even subject to violence from the doctors and nurses who were supposed to help these patients. Through this absurd and grotesque treatment these women’s conditions worsened causing an adverse effect on their original livelihood.  

The initial evaluations of the new patients were abrupt and the doctor seemed uninterested in the process.  A young German speaking girl could not understand the questions the doctor was asking of her, so instead of trying to sympathize with the situation the doctor committed her to the institution without her having an opportunity to plead her case (Bly 282). Bly then states, “Compare this with a criminal, who is given every chance to prove his innocence” (282).  Those who had committed a crime, no matter the severity, had the opportunity to have a fair trial to determine their possibility of freedom. There were no regulations or guidelines that had to be followed to determine if a woman should be institutionalized because there was no concrete way of testing them. These women were viewed as lesser than criminals in the sense of their freedom. A doctor could not get away with such an absurd action in the twenty first century because the patient’s family and loved ones would question them. On the contrary, during the period this story was written, most women were brought to these asylums because, “…asylums were merely reformed penal institutions where the mentally ill were abandoned by relatives or sentenced by the law and faced a life of inhumane treatment, all for the sake of lifting the burden of ashamed families and preventing any possible disturbance in the community” (Foerschner 2). Many people would wrongfully admit loved ones just because they could not or did not want them to be around anymore, this was a socially acceptable practice.  Another example of the doctor’s incompetence is his attention towards the flirty nurse and not the patient, “…[He] asked her six questions to every one of me” (284). The doctor was more concerned for his social life than the wellbeing of a stranger being forced into a mental institution. These women’s freedom was not valued by the doctors, family, or the community, causing an unfair trial to their institutionalization. 

The horrible conditions occurred throughout the whole day; from bath time, bedtime, to dinner time. During bath time, Bly was forced to undress in a room with an audience of other patients. While in the bath she states, “The water was ice cold, and I again began to protest. How useless it all was! I begged, at least that the patients be made to go away, but was ordered to shut up” (286). There is a disparity in Bly’s tone in this quote, she realizes how being a part of the state system she was no longer considered an independent person but a nuisance to the state.  She once again is dehumanized further; this could make a sane person go “crazy”. Later in the night she was forced to sleep with a fully wet head of cold water wearing nothing but a wet slip and when she asks for a night gown a nurse tells her, “You are in a public institution now, and you can’t expect to get anything. This is charity, and you should be thankful for what you get” (287). This institution could be compared to a jail because all the women’s rights were thrown away, and they had to follow whatever they were told no matter how inhumane it was. The word charity is ironic as charities are implemented to help benefit others but these facilities did the opposite. Also, these nurses truly believed treating them lesser than they were was going to help their tough and misunderstood situations. These people within institutions need help, that’s why they are admitted, they need people who are willing to be compassionate. Bly’s concern worsens during the night while she was unable to sleep due to the loud night nurses checking of the inmates.  She lay awake thinking about the horror of what would happen to all the women if a fire were to happen.  Each patient was locked away in their own private rooms, meaning each door would have to be unlocked for the women to escape.  She knows that no nurse, not even a kind one, would risk their own lives for the “insane” patients, so they would be trapped there to burn without a second glance.  A design flaw this major would not be tolerated now because society still views people with mental illness or even people who have committed a crime the right to have a safety and security and that their lives matter too.  Even when she tries to reason with the head doctor about fixing it he simply shrugs it off saying it would be the nurse’s responsibility to unlock each inmate. Bly knows that not even a kind nurse would be willing to risk her life for a “lesser person” (285). The worst condition the women faced was the inedible food they were forced to consume. Most was so vile and disgusting that the patients would not eat for days, and the asylum frankly did not care at all. Freuchner’s article “The History of Mental Illness: From Skull Drills to Happy Pills” explains exactly what Bly faced and states, “Most asylums were staffed by gravely untrained, unqualified individuals who treated mentally ill patients like animals. Little attention was paid to the quality of the food or whether patients were adequately fed.” The institution Bly was in was the same as the other institutions throughout Europe, meaning hundreds of thousands of women were being mistreated for their mental illness, which they could not help.

“Insane? Yes, insane; and as I watched the insanity slowly creep over the mind that had appeared to be all right I secretly cursed the doctors, the nurses and all public institutions. Someone may say that she was insane at some time previous…Then if she were, was this the proper place to send a woman just convalescing, to be given cold baths, deprived of sufficient clothing and fed horrible food?” (295). 

Bly, within her ten days, begins to admit that her mistreatment within the facility is changing her mindset and causing insanity. The fact she began to “curse” those who harmed her is something a normal individual would never do. When she was initially brought there, she would have never acted in this manner but through so much pain and torcher it causes resentment within her. The reason these people were brought to a mental institution was to find help and understanding, but instead they are driven more crazy and their conditions worsened due to the poor conditions of the asylum.

The final shocking detail of Bly’s story was the physical abuse patients received for doing nothing wrong at all. If they were speaking too much to themselves, causing a “disturbance” to others, or just being an easy target; they would become victim to the nurses. They got a disturbing thrill from reprimanding these helpless individuals. For them it was a game and helped the time pass during the work day. This is horrible considering no human should be subject to such horrors for doing nothing to deserve it.  “When staff did attempt to cure the patients, they followed the practices typical of the time period—purging and bloodletting…the belief that patients needed to choose rationality over insanity led to techniques aiming to intimidate (Foerschner 2, Butcher 37). It’s interesting that the word “cure” is used in this quote because there is no correlation to being treated like an animal to a person no longer being mentally ill. Through intimidation and victimization, the patient’s conditions worsened and caused further insanity.

“Ten Days in a Mad House” by Nelly Bly helped to change policy of the treatment of the mentally ill due to her treatment within the Women’s Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell’s Island (CR 280).  Before Nelly’s experiment, the treatment of the mentally ill could be compared to how people treat wild animals, there was no respect or sympathy towards these people.  Most of society did not understand the actual concept of mental illness due to the definitions they were told.  Many believed they were dangerous and unpredictable people.  Now, two centuries later, people are encouraged to seek help if they feel something within them mentally doesn’t seem proper.  There is still some stigma behind the mental health professions but the media has highlighted to importance of proper mental health which helps to spur forward new ideals of the treatment of the mentally ill. Certain mental issues are still questioned by many but overall, the idea has broadened and now accepts those who feel the need for a little extra help.
