Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-p9bg8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T06:17:28.478Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Was Insanity on the Increase?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  29 January 2018

Edward Hare
Edward Hare*
Affiliation:
The Maudsley Hospital, Denmark Hill, London SE5 8AF
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

At the autumn meeting of the Medico-psychological Association in 1871, Maudsley—that time President of the Association—reada paper entitled 'In Issanity on the Increase?. The question was then one of profound concern both to the British public and to psychiatrists. Not only had there been for years a constant need to build new asylums—a cause ‘of terrible discouragement and complaint with the ratepayers’ (Arlidge, 1859)—but also, as was clearly apparent in the publications of the Poor Law Office and the Annual Reports of the Commissioners in Lunacy, the number of the registered insane was increasing every year, far out of proportion to the increase in the population (see Fig 1). This circum stance, it was said, ‘miwghetll give rise to alarming apprehension of a mental degeneracy’ in the country (Arlidge, 1862).

Type
Lecture
Information
The British Journal of Psychiatry , Volume 142 , Issue 5 , May 1983 , pp. 439 - 455
Copyright
Copyright © 1983 The Royal College of Psychiatrists 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Arlidge, J. T. (1859) Review of the Twelfth Report of the Commissioners in Lunacy. Journal of Mental Science, 5, 245–57.Google Scholar
Arlidge, J. T. (1862) Review of the Sixteenth Report of the Commissioners in Lunacy. Journal of Mental Science, 8, 417–29.Google Scholar
Arnold, T. (1782) Observations on the Nature of Insanity, Vol. I, p. 27. Leicester: Ireland.Google Scholar
Bleuler, M. (1978) The Schizophrenic Disorders: Long-term Patient and Family Studies. New Haven: Yale U.P. (translated from the German by S. M. Clemens: first German edition 1972).Google Scholar
Board of Control (1914) First Annual Report, for the Year 1914, Table VII. London: H.M.S.O. Page 33.Google Scholar
Board of Control (1923) Tenth Annual Report, for the Year 1923. London: H.M.S.O. Page 7.Google Scholar
Boyd, R. (1871) Statistics of pauper insanity. Journal of Mental Science, 17, 221–25.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Browne, C. (1871) quoted by Robertson, C. L. (1871) in: A further note on the alleged increase in lunacy. Journal of Mental Science, 16, 473–97.Google Scholar
Brushfield, T. N. (1872) The alleged increase of insanity. Journal of Mental Science, 16, 229.Google Scholar
Bucknill, J. C. (1855) Review of the Ninth Report of the Commissioners in Lunacy. Journal of Mental Science, 2, 1–16.Google Scholar
Burrows, G. M. (1828) Commentaries on the Causes, etc. of Insanity, p. 507. London: Underwood.Google Scholar
Chapman, T. A. (1896) Insanity is decreasing: a statistical item suggesting that. Journal of Mental Science, 40, 80–5.Google Scholar
Clouston, T. S. (1891) Asylum reports. Journal of Mental Science, 37, 598–9.Google Scholar
Commissioners in Lunacy (1897) Special Report on the Alleged Increase of Insanity. London: H.M.S.O. Google Scholar
Commissioners in Lunacy (1899) Fifty-third Annual Report, p. 10. London. H.M.S.O. Google Scholar
Commissioners in Lunacy (1911) Sixty-fifth Annual Report, Chart No. 4. London: H.M.S.O. Google Scholar
Connolly, J. (1849) On some of the forms of insanity. Lancet, 2, 2 and 10.Google Scholar
Corbett, W. J. (1893) On the increase of insanity. American Journal of Insanity, 50, 224–38.Google Scholar
Cox, J. M. (1806) Practical Observations on Insanity, 2nd ed., p. 8. London: Murray.Google Scholar
Crowther, B. (1811) Practical Remarks on Insanity, p. v. London: Underwood.Google Scholar
Drapes, T. (1894) On the alleged increase of insanity in Ireland. Journal of Mental Science, 40, 519–61.Google Scholar
Duncan, M. (1870) quoted by Robertson, C. L. (1871) in: A further note on the alleged increase in lunacy. Journal of Mental Science, 16, 473–97.Google Scholar
Dunham, H. W. (1971) Sociocultural studies in schizophrenia. Archives of General Psychiatry, 24, 206–14.Google Scholar
Eames, J. A. (1885) Presidential address. Journal of Mental Science, 31, 315–7.Google Scholar
Earle, P. (1887) The curability of insanity. American Journal of Insanity, 33, 483–533.Google Scholar
Eaton, W. W. (1980) The Sociology of Mental Disorders, p. 174 et seq. New York: Praeger.Google Scholar
Goldhamer, H. & Marshall, A. W. (1953) Psychosis and Civilisation. New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
Granville, J. M. (1877) The Care and Cure of the Insane, Vol. 2, p. 216. London: Hardwicke.Google Scholar
Halliday, Sir Andrew (1829) A General View of the Present State of Lunatics, p. 15. London: Underwood.Google Scholar
Halloran, W. (1810) An Enquiry into the Causes Producing the Extraordinary Addition to the Numbers of the Insane, pp. 9, 11. Cork: Edwards and Savage.Google Scholar
Hare, E. H. (1981) The two manias: a study of the evolution of the modern concept of mania. British Journal of Psychiatry, 138, 89–99.Google Scholar
Hare, E. H. (1983) Epidemiological evidence for a viral factor in the aetiology of the functional psychoses. In: Research on Viral Hypotheses of Mental Disorder, (ed. Morozov, P. V.). Basel: Karger (in press).Google Scholar
Harper, A. (1789) A Treatise on the Real Cause and Cure of Insanity, p. 23. London: Stalker.Google Scholar
Haslam, J. (1798) Observations on Insanity. London: Rivington.Google Scholar
Humphreys, N. A. (1890) Statistics of insanity in England, with special reference to its alleged increasing prevalence. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, 53, 201–52.Google Scholar
Jamieson, R. (1876) The increase of mental disease. Journal of Mental Science, 21, 138–41.Google Scholar
Jarvis, E. (1852) On the supposed increase in insanity. American Journal of Insanity, 8, 333–64.Google Scholar
Jarvis, E. (1871) Quoted by Corbett 1893.Google Scholar
Jones, K. (1955) Lunacy, Law and Conscience 1744–1845, pp. 116, 149. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.Google Scholar
Jones, R. (1906) The evolution of insanity. Journal of Mental Science, 52, 629–61.Google Scholar
Journal of Mental Science (1862) 7, 534.Google Scholar
Journal of Mental Science (1869) 15, 557.Google Scholar
Journal of Mental Science (1895) 41, 498–512.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Journal of Mental Science (1904) 50, 797.Google Scholar
Journal of Mental Science (1905) 51, 733.Google Scholar
Journal of Mental Science (1909) 55, 96–112.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lancet (1866) Increase of insanity, Lancet, 2, 675.Google Scholar
Lunier, L. (1870) De l'augmentation progressive du chiffre des aliénés et de ses causes. Annales Medico-Psychologiques, 3 (5th series), 20–31.Google Scholar
MacCabe, F. (1869) On the alleged increase of insanity. Journal of Mental Science, 16, 363–6.Google Scholar
Maudsley, H. (1872) Is insanity on the increase? British Medical Journal, i, 36–9.Google Scholar
Maudsley, H. (1873) Body and Mind, p. 41. London: MacMillan.Google Scholar
Maudsley, H. (1877) The alleged increase of insanity. Journal of Mental Science, 23, 45–54.Google Scholar
Maudsley, H. (1917) Optimism and pessimism. Journal of Mental Science, 63, 1–16.Google Scholar
Metropolitan Commisioners in Lunacy (1844) Statistical Appendix to the Report of 1844. London: H.M.S.O. Google Scholar
Mitchell, A. (1879) Contribution to the study of death rates of persons in asylums. Journal of Mental Science, 25, 1–4.Google Scholar
Morrison, A. (1826) Outlines of Lectures on Mental Diseases, 2nd ed. pp. 65, 68. London: Longman.Google Scholar
Ødegård, Ø. (1967) Changes in the prognosis of functional psychoses since the days of Kraepelin. British Journal of Psychiatry, 113, 813–22.Google Scholar
Pargeter, W. (1792) Observations on Maniacal Disorders, p. 1. London: Murray.Google Scholar
Parry-Jones, W. (1972) The Trade in Lunacy, p. 328. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.Google Scholar
Perfect, W. (1787) Select Cases in the Different Species of Insanity, etc. p. 118. London: Rochester.Google Scholar
Pierce, B. (1919) Psychiatry 100 years ago: with comments on the problems today. Journal of Mental Science, 65, 219–35.Google Scholar
Prichard, J. C. (1835) A Treatise on Insanity and other Disorders Affecting the Mind, p. 350. London: Sherwood.Google Scholar
Renaudin, E. (1861) Observations deduced from the statistics of the insane. Journal of Mental Science, 7, 534–46.Google Scholar
Robertson, C. L. (1869) The alleged increase of lunacy. Journal of Mental Science, 15, 1–23.Google Scholar
Robertson, C. L. (1871) A further note on the alleged increase in lunacy. Journal of Mental Science, 16, 473–97.Google Scholar
Robertson, George M. (1926) The prevalence of insanity—a preliminary survey of the problem. Journal of Mental Science, 72, 455–91.Google Scholar
Rorie, J. (1900) Statistics of six thousand cases of insane admitted to the Royal Dundee Asylum from 1st April 1890 to 2nd November 1898. Journal of Mental Science, 46, 205–7.Google Scholar
Sanborn, F. B. (1894) Is American insanity increasing? A study. Journal of Mental Science, 40, 214–9.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Savage, G. H. (1890) Discussion of Humphrey's paper. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society, 53, 201–52.Google Scholar
Scull, A. T. (1979) Museums of Madness, Chap. 6. London: Lane.Google Scholar
Schwab, J. J. & Schwab, M. E. (1978) Socio-cultural Roots of Mental Illness: an Epidemiological Survey, p. 109. New York: Plenum.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Swift, J. (1747) A True Copy of the last Will and Testament of the Revd. Dr. Jonathan Swift. Dublin: Bate.Google Scholar
Torrey, E. F. (1980) Schizophrenia and Civilization, Chap., 2. New York: Aronson.Google Scholar
Tuke, Harrington (1873) Presidential address. Journal of Mental Science, 19, 327–40 & 479–85.Google Scholar
Tuke, Daniel Hack (1886) The alleged increase of insanity. Journal of Mental Science, 32, 360–76.Google Scholar
Tuke, Daniel Hack (1894) Alleged increase of insanity. Journal of Mental Science, 40, 219–31.Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.