Nellie Bly was a curious woman who dove into a research topic that fascinated her: women and psychiatry. She tried to prove her own insanity in order to be committed to the Women’s Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell’s Island. Her research at this institution transformed into her first book, Ten Days in a Mad-House, which digs into the unfair and cruel treatment of women in psychiatric institutions in the late 1800s. Women had to fight to prove whether they were “insane” or not and in the majority of cases, their voices were rarely heard. Throughout history, mental illness has been seen as a punishment, especially for women. In the article, “The History of Mental Illness: From Skull Drills to Happy Pills,” Allison M. Foerschner debates how mentally ill patients were treated over time and her findings directly correlate to those of Nellie Bly. Also, Kassidy Jean Charles argues how women were forcibly sent to insane asylums as a result of being an unsatisfactory wife, in the article “Women in Insane Asylums.” However, no matter what the reason for commitment to an asylum, what these women had to face when they got there is nothing short of horrifying. Women were refused the right to an ample trial, they were subjected to violence, and lived in horrible conditions. These were three devastating factors that women had to face if they were deemed insane during this time period. 

Nellie Bly’s discoveries in Ten Days in a Mad-House are far from disturbing. One of her most shocking discoveries is that once women were committed, they were given no chance to prove that they are not actually insane. For the majority of cases, women in these scenarios simply needed to be heard and understood, rather they were committed as a punishment for doing absolutely nothing wrong. For example, in her book, Nelly Bly states that when patients were brought in to see the physician, they were mocked and laughed at by nurses and doctors (Bly, 2). She says, “Compare this with a criminal, who is given every chance to prove his innocence. Who would not rather be a murderer and take the chance for life than be declared insane, without hope of escape? Mrs. Schanz begged in German to know where she was, and pleaded for her liberty” (Bly, 3). It was not uncommon that patients would be treated in this manner, begging for a chance at freedom and having that dream be taken away by a doctor who paid little if any attention to his patients in the first place. The right to be heard was stripped away as women were committed to an asylum without their own consent. As Kassidy Jean Charles describes in “Women in Insane Asylums,” women of this time period were seen as submissive to their husbands (Charles, 1). So it was not surprising for women to be taken to an asylum without being told why because they had little to no say in their everyday lives, much less in deciding proper action regarding their mental health. Men were seen as superior, so husbands along with doctors were given all of the power in these situations. Charles declares, “If a woman was to behave in a way that opposed the views or opinions held by her husband, the husband would then declare the wife insane and have her sent to an asylum rather than going through a divorce as the majority of couples would do in modern times” (Charles, 1). Women were forced to pretend as if their husband knew what was best for them and that meant going along with being declared insane and being refused the opportunity to defend themselves once they got to whichever institution they were being committed to. This was a time period that refused to believe and accept that mental illness is a disability, rather it quickly became interpreted as an unfair punishment. 

Further, among Nellie Bly’s findings was the tactic of violence which was commonly used as a form of treatment at the time. For example, when Nellie spoke to a physician in regards to the treatment of patients and how it was not only unfair but cruel, a nurse threatened her and told her there would be some form of consequence if she were to ever complain again (Bly, 15). Nellie quickly realized that nurses found joy in harassing and humiliating patients. They would find a patient’s weakness and use it to provoke a reaction out of them, and when the patient reacted by crying or becoming hysterical, the nurses would inflict physical pain by slapping or choking them (Bly, 17). Patients would beg other women for help in which case they would be told to “shut up” by a nurse and then be taken to “the closet” where cries would gradually increase as the patients were tortured (Bly, 17). Violence as well as shock therapy administered by electricity was used as a form of treatment as described by Allison M. Foerschner in “The History of Mental Illness: Skull Drills to Happy Pills” (Foerschner, 3). She states, “Because the idea of an electrical current being passed through one’s head is undoubtedly frightening, ECT was used to intimidate, control, and punish patients, some of whom were subjected to this treatment over a hundred times” (Foerschner, 3). This research emphasizes that physicians were more concerned with administering harm to patients than finding a suitable treatment method to help someone who has been diagnosed with a mental illness. 

Unfortunately, the unfair treatment of women in asylums doesn’t stop at physicians inflicting violence upon patients. Women were also forced to live in horrible conditions. Nellie describes her experience bathing, “Suddenly I got, one after the other, three buckets of water over my head-ice-cold water, too-into my eyes, my ears, my nose, and my mouth. I think I experienced some of the sensations of a drowning person as they dragged me, gasping, shivering, and quaking from the tub. For once I did look insane” (Bly, 7). Not only were these women committed against their own will, but they were traumatized while utilizing a necessity as basic as bathing. After being forcibly and harshly scrubbed and bathed the women were forced to use “two coarse towels” which were to be shared by nearly fifty women, and their hair was harshly brushed by nurses using the same “six combs” for every patient (Bly, 10). Nellie also describes one of her most dreadful experiences at the asylum: eating. She says, “The hungry and even famishing women made an attempt to eat the horrible messes. Mustard and vinegar were put on meat and in soup to give it a taste, but it only helped to make it worse” (Bly, 13). A basic survival necessity such as food had to be choked down, and if patients refused to eat, the nurses threatened them (Bly, 13). Kassidy Jean Charles describes a similar occurrence, “They were subjected to inhumane living conditions. Many were starved and forced to go through treatments that had a more negative effect on their stability than anything else” (Charles, 1). For most women of this time period, being in an asylum caused them to become insane if they weren’t already. It meant further deterioration because they were deprived of basic necessities and not granted ample treatment that corresponded with their diagnosis. 

Lastly, in the mid to late 1800s, women who presented psychiatric symptoms or women who spoke out against their husbands were taken to asylums against their own will. They were refused the right to prove their sanity, they dealt with violence as a form of treatment, and they were subjected to living in horrifying conditions. If women weren’t already insane, they would become mentally ill as a result of being at an institution that encouraged this type of living environment for patients. Nellie Bly’s research led to other findings such as the work of Allison M. Foerschner and Kassidy Jean Charles. The research provided by these women is what led to investigations of asylums and is the reason why this country has changed the protocol regarding the treatment of women who are mentally ill.
