Forty-ninth annual report of the directors of the Dundee Royal Asylum for Lunatics : submitted, in terms of their charter, to a general meeting of the directors, 21st June, 1869 with the reports of the medical superintendent and treasurer of the institution.
- Dundee Royal Asylum for Lunatics
- Date:
- 1869
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Forty-ninth annual report of the directors of the Dundee Royal Asylum for Lunatics : submitted, in terms of their charter, to a general meeting of the directors, 21st June, 1869 with the reports of the medical superintendent and treasurer of the institution. Source: Wellcome Collection.
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![11 of the patients admitted were found to be labouring under attacks of dementia; 16 were suffering from mania; 12, from melancholia ; 15, from monomania ; and 3, from general paralysis. As regards the physical condition of these, 37 were in good health ; but 20 were in a frail and indifferent condition. One male patient who was brought, in an exhausted state, was 70 years of age. He was insane the greater part of his life, and he died within ten days of admission. 11 patients exhibited paraly¬ tic symptoms on admission. No male patient was denied admis¬ sion, but it is to be regretted that 20 female patients had to be refused from want of accommodation. 13 of these belonged to the parish of Dundee, and 7 to that of Liff and Benvie. Of the patients admitted during the past year, ] 2 had at one time or other been inmates of the Asylum. Two were cases of general paralysis, removed by their friends contrary to advice; while the others were patients who had been discharged re¬ covered, and had again become insane. One of the last men¬ tioned had been under treatment on four previous occasions, one on six, and one on seven. While these facts indicate how readily this form of disease may re-appear, and how little complete ex¬ emption from its recurrence can be expected, even under very favourable circumstances, still it is gratifying to find that one of the persons admitted had continued in his sound mind, and been a useful member of society, for the long period of twenty- four years. While considering the admissions, it may not be out of place to refer to the manner in which patients are sometimes brought to the Institution. In order to induce them to leave home quietly, they are often deceived by their friends, and, under pre¬ tence of being taken out for a drive, are brought direct to the Asylum. The result of such a practice is often very disastrous. The confidence of the patient, a most important matter to secure, is thereby utterly lost; he suspects every body as his enemy; and the impression of treachery thus imprinted on his mind can hardly be effaced. This practice is the more to be regretted, in¬ asmuch as in many cases it is wholly unnecessary, the sufferers themselves being often conscious of their condition, and anxious to receive assistance. We may mention, in proof of this, that](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b30315566_0018.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
