Practical observations and suggestions on the treatment of mental affections / [Joseph Seaton].

  • Seaton, Joseph
Date:
1850
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Practical observations and suggestions on the treatment of mental affections / [Joseph Seaton]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Coat! The nciivde of this gentleman’s reply was excessively rich: “Oh! he does not know he is under restraint now !” I thanked him for his tes¬ timony, telling him that, to have controlled and restrained the patient, without his knowing he was under restraint or control, was to me a satis¬ factory achievement. Although I have endeavoured to point out the importance of carefully considering the circumstances of each particular case, and of exercising the greatest prudence and delicacy in determining the species and degree of restraint (if any) which may be requisite, I would not for a moment encourage any attempt to treat the malady at the home of the patient, if there is a possibility for his removal. There is, perhaps, no point upon which the best writers upon the subject of Insanity are so perfectly agreed, as the almost universal necessity for the separation of insane persons from their homes, their families, and their friends, whether con* finement be requisite or not:—Esquirol, Pinel, Georget, Willis, and Dr Prichard have all insisted upon it. M. Esquirol, after giving a graphic description of a lunatic who fancies himself a sovereign, adds, “ The affliction of his family, the chagrin of his friends, the anxiety of all,—-their deference to his will and caprices, —and the repugnance that each evinces to oppose him, from the fear of exasperating his fury, contribute to confirm him in his imaginary possession of power and dominion. Withdraw him from his pretensions; transport him from his subjects ; surrounded by new scenes, he will collect his ideas, direct his attention to himself, and place himself on an equality with his companions.” Dr Prichard observes, “ If the disorder of intellect display itself in connexion with the domestic habits of the individualif the real or imaginary causes of excitement are to be found in the bosom of his family, there is on this account an obvious reason for removing him from his home ; though it does not follow that confinement is necessary.” M. Georget observes, “ Lunatics ought to be separated from the objects which have excited their disease, or which foster or aggravate it;—from relatives or servants whom they pretend to command and to whom they will never submit;—from busybodies who only irritate them by useless arguments or misplaced ridicule.” I should wish to guard against being supposed to advocate the patient’s removal upon the ground of the very common notion, that the treatment of Insanity is a mystery only to be undertaken by the specially initiated, sometimes ycleped “ Mad Doctors.” No medical man ought to be igno¬ rant of the treatment of Insanity, either medical or moral; but there are circumstances surrounding every case of mental alienation which, in