In Psychiatry in Indiana: The First 175 Years, authors Philip M. Coons, M.D., and Elizabeth S. Bowman, M.D., paint a fascinating, compelling, and vibrant portrait of the history of psychiatry in Indiana from its beginnings when Indiana was a territory up through present day, relying on meticulous research and personal anecdotes from former psychiatric employees of Indiana's mental health facilities for their intriguing exploration. Psychiatry in Indiana gives a brief history of psychiatry in the United States and describes the plight of Indiana's mentally ill who were hidden away in poorhouses and jails during the first half of the nineteenth century. The authors trace the history of Indiana's public mental hospitals and state developmental centers during the next 125 years, discussing private psychiatric hospitals, child psychiatry, correctional psychiatry, the move towards community mental health centers, and child psychiatry. They also explore the rich history of the Indiana Psychiatric Society and the Department of Psychiatry at Indiana University School of Medicine. Descriptions of notable psychiatrists, landmark legal cases, and famous patients are sure to intrigue anyone with a professional or local interest in Psychiatry in Indiana.
Psychiatry in Indiana
The First 175 YearsBy Philip M. Coons Elizabeth S. BowmaniUniverse, Inc.
Copyright © 2010 Philip M. Coons, M.D., and Elizabeth S. Bowman, M.D.
All right reserved.ISBN: 978-1-4502-6072-5Contents
Dedication..........................................................................................................vForeword............................................................................................................xixPreface.............................................................................................................xxiiiAcknowledgments.....................................................................................................xxvIntroduction........................................................................................................xxixChapter 1 A Brief History of Psychiatry y in the United States.....................................................1Chapter 2 Public Psychiatric Institutions...........................................................................9Chapter 3 Indiana's Public Psychiatric Hospitals Built in the Late Nineteenth Century...............................18Chapter 4 Twentieth Century Public Psychiatric Hospitals in Indiana.................................................38Chapter 5 Private Psychiatric Institutions..........................................................................50Chapter 6 State Developmental Centers...............................................................................57Chapter 7 Correctional Facilities...................................................................................68Chapter 8 Community Mental Health Centers...........................................................................72Chapter 9 Psychiatric Organizations.................................................................................77Chapter 10 Department of Psychiatry, Indiana University School of Medicine..........................................93Chapter 11 Child Psychiatry.........................................................................................104Chapter 12 Notable Indiana Psychiatrists of the Nineteenth Century..................................................109Chapter 13 Notable Indiana Psychiatrists of the Twentieth Century...................................................119Chapter 14 Notable Non Psychiatrist from Indiana....................................................................152Chapter 15 Laws.....................................................................................................164Chapter 16 Cases, Famous and Infamous...............................................................................182Afterword...........................................................................................................193Chapter Notes and References........................................................................................197About the Authors...................................................................................................239Appendix A Interview with John Greist, M.D..........................................................................241Appendix B Interview with Philip Reed, M.D..........................................................................245Appendix C Presidents of the Indiana Neuropsychiatric Association & Indiana Psychiatric Society.....................259
Chapter One
A Brief History of Psychiatry in the United States "It has been remarked, that the maniacs of the male sex in all hospitals, who assist in cutting wood, making fires, and digging in a garden, and the females who are employed in washing, ironing, and scrubbing floors, often recover, while persons, whose rank exempts them from performing such services, languish away their lives within the walls of the hospital." Benjamin Rush, Medical Inquiries and Observations upon the Diseases of the Mind, 1812
We begin the history of psychiatry in the United States with Benjamin Rush, M.D., (1745-1813), the founder of American psychiatry. Rush was not only a physician but a writer, educator, humanitarian, and signer of the Declaration of Independence. He was the author of the first textbook on psychiatry, Medical Inquiries and Observations upon the Diseases of the Mind, first published in 1812. In his book Rush described hypochondriasis, mania, dissociation, and derangements of faith, memory, will, morality, and sexual appetite. Rush's remedies for these various ailments included garlic infusions, blood letting, purging, and the use of bark or opium. Perhaps the most interesting and sometimes appropriate treatments, even by today's standards, are his remedies for an overactive sexual appetite. These included matrimony, avoidance of the opposite sex, avoidance of obscene pictures, temperance with alcohol, cold baths, purges, diets of bread and water, and immersion in business or study.
Another of Rush's accomplishments was a successful campaign to establish a separate ward for mental patients at the Pennsylvania Hospital. Rush was considered a pioneer in occupational therapy because he advocated work for both men and women. He was a pioneer in alcohol addiction treatment and was the first to conceptualize alcoholism as a medical disease rather than a sinful failing. Rush was a prominent educator who trained over three thousand medical students during his lifetime.
Dr. Rush worked at the Pennsylvania Hospital, which opened in Philadelphia in 1751. The hospital's care of the mentally ill in overly crowded psychiatric wards was removed to west Philadelphia in 1841 when the Pennsylvania Hospital for the Insane was opened. The hospital's first superintendent was Thomas Story Kirkbride, M.D., (1809-1883), founder of the American Association of Medical Superintendents of American Institutions for the Insane and also inventor of the Kirkbride Plan of constriction of hospitals for the insane (See Chapter 2). The Pennsylvania Hospital eventually became the Institute of Pennsylvania Hospital. The hospital had some private rooms and the patients not only received medical treatment, but worked outside, participated in recreational activities, attended lectures, and had use of a hospital library.
The Pennsylvania Hospital for the Insane, however, was not the nation's first psychiatric hospital. That honor goes to the Friends Hospital which opened its doors to fifty patients on May 15, 1817. Isaac Bonsall, a successful Pennsylvania farmer, was its first superintendent. The hospital was situated on fifty-eight acres of farmland and the area that wasn't cultivated included a park-like setting with shaded walks, ponds, and forest paths. This hospital, operated by the Quakers, was a haven for the insane. In order to maximize light and fresh air, rooms were placed on only one side of a corridor. Males were quartered on one end of the hospital and women on the other. The more violent patients were housed on the second floor and there were special rooms on the fourth floor for "noisy" patients. Patients were helped to recover from their illnesses by working on the hospital grounds and farm. They were treated humanely and were part of a family, which included the superintendent and his family, physicians, a matron, a nurse, and attendants. The symptoms of mental illness requiring treatment were like those encountered at the Indiana Hospital for the Insane (See Chapter 2), including...
