A Psychiatric Milestone: Bloomingdale Hospital Centenary, 1821-1921

A Psychiatric Milestone: Bloomingdale Hospital Centenary, 1821-1921

The opening of Bloomingdale Asylum on June 1, 1821, was an important event in the treatment of mental disorders and in the progress of humanitarian and scientific work in America. Hospital treatment for persons suffering from mental disorders had been furnished by the New York Hospital since its opening in 1792, and the Governors had given much thought and effort to securing the facilities needed. The treatment consisted, however, principally in the administration of drugs and the employment of such other physical measures as were in vogue at that time. Little attempt was made to study the minds of the patients or to treat them by measures directed specifically to influencing their thoughts, feelings, and behavior, and what treatment of this character there was had for its object little more than the repression of excitement and disordered activity. The value and importance of treatment directed to the mind had, indeed, been long recognized, but in practice it had been subordinated to treatment of the actual and assumed physical disorders to which the mental state of the patient was attributed, and, in the few hospitals where persons suffering from mental disorders were received, means for its application were almost or quite entirely lacking. The establishment of Bloomingdale Asylum for the purpose of ascertaining to what extent the recovery of the patients might be accomplished by moral as well as by purely medical treatment marked, therefore, the very earliest stages of the development in America of the system of study and treatment of mental disorders which with increasing amplification and precision is now universally employed. A hundred years of growth and activity in the work thus established have now been accomplished, and it seemed fitting to the Governors of the Hospital that the event should be commemorated in a way that would be appropriate to its significance and importance. It was decided that the principal place in the celebration should be given to the purely medical and scientific aspects of the work, with special reference to the progress which had been made in the direction of the practical usefulness of psychiatry in the treatment of illness generally, and in the management of problems of human behavior and welfare. Arrangements were made for four addresses by physicians of conspicuous eminence in their particular fields, and invitations to attend the exercises were sent to the leading psychiatrists, psychologists, and neurologists of America, and to others who were known to be specially interested in the field of study and practice in which the Hospital is engaged. It was felt that, in view of the place which France and England had held in the movement in which Bloomingdale Asylum had its origin, it would add greatly to the interest and value of the celebration if representatives of these countries were present and made addresses. How fortunate it was, then, that it became possible to welcome from France Dr. Pierre Janet, who stands pre-eminent in the field of psychopathology, and from England Dr. Richard G. Rows, whose contributions to the study and treatment of the war neuroses and to the relation between psychic and physical reactions marked him as especially qualified to present the more advanced view-point of British psychiatry. The other two principal addresses were made by Dr. Adolf Meyer, who, by reason of his scientific contributions and his wonderfully productive practical work in clinical and organized psychiatry and in mental hygiene, is the acknowledged leader of psychiatry in America, and by Dr. Lewellys F. Barker, who, because of his eminence as an internist and of the extent to which he has advocated and employed psychiatric knowledge and methods in his practice, has contributed greatly to interesting and informing physicians concerning the value and importance of psychiatry in general medical practice. The addresses given by these distinguished physicians, representing advanced views in psychiatry held in Europe and America, were peculiarly appropriate to the occasion and to the object of the celebration. They were supplemented by an historical review of the origin and development of the Hospital and of its work by Mr. Edward W. Sheldon, President of the Society of the New York Hospital, and by a statement concerning the medical development, made by Dr. William L. Russell, the Medical Superintendent. The greetings of the New York Academy of Medicine were presented in an interesting address by Dr. George D. Stewart, President of the Academy. Of scarcely less significance and interest than the addresses was the pageant presented on the lawn during the intermission between the sessions, depicting scenes and incidents illustrating the origin and development of the Hospital, and of psychiatry and mental hygiene. The text and the scenes displayed were prepared by Dr. Charles I. Lambert, First Assistant Physician of the Hospital, and by Mrs. Adelyn Wesley, who directed the performance and acted as narrator. The performers were persons who were connected with the Hospital, twenty-two of whom were patients. ......Buy Now (To Read More)

Product details

Ebook Number: 15365
Author: New York Hospital. Society
Release Date: Mar 14, 2005
Format: eBook
Language: English
Publisher: Privately printed by The Society of the New York Hospital
Publication Date: 1921
Publisher Country: [New York]

Contributors

Editor: New York Hospital. Society