Author Archives: Mallory Karnei

For my digital research project I research Elizabeth Packard and her institutionalization at the hand of her husband, Theophilus Packard. Elizabeth Packard was sent to the Illinois State Asylum after an incident of expressing differing religious beliefs than that of her husbands. That event caused her to be locked in the asylum for three years… Continue reading Digital Research Project

I thought for this week’s blog post I would do an update on the show I’m watching which is American Horror Story: Asylum. So far the show has touched on electroshock therapy, corporal punishment, Homosexuality as a mental disorder, and even B.F. Skinner. The show, while being obviously dramatized and unrealistic, has actually had quite… Continue reading AHS Asylum Update

For the digitally enhanced project I am going to utilize WordPress and essentially create a website about my research on Elizabeth Packard. It will include my thesis along with a short summary about Elizabeth Packard’s life. From there, I will use both secondary and primary sources to create different tabs that will organize my research.… Continue reading Project Approach for Elizabeth Packard

I recently watched this movie with a friend and it made me realize how dangerous over-dramatization of mental illness, asylums, and treatment is. The movie is centered around a psychiatrist who goes insane herself after a traumatic experience with a patient. The movie really hones in on the stereotype of mentally ill people being inherently… Continue reading The Movie Clinical

Elizabeth Packard was a vital figure in the reformation and social awareness of mental health in the 19th century. After being involuntarily committed to the Illinois Insane Asylum by her reverend husband for merely having differing religious beliefs, she remained institutionalized for three years. While institutionalized, she continuously plead to be released and was adamant… Continue reading Project Proposal – Elizabeth Packard

Elizabeth Parsons Ware Packard was one of the women whose first hand account we read this week. Her description of her treatment by her husband and experience in the asylum was one that stuck out to me the most. I found it shocking the level of indifference and anger her husband had towards her –… Continue reading Elizabeth Packard

This article touches on how some of the first forms of PTSD seen was from the soldiers of the Civil War. It mentions how the devastation that many of the soldiers saw was unseen before and since they were subject to pre-modern medicine, their inflictions were difficult to treat. I think this is a great… Continue reading Civil War Soldiers and PTSD

For my research topic for this semester I have decided to focus on Rosemary Kennedy. This website provides a great background to her story and how the Kennedy’s handled her mental disability. The article touches on how Rosemary became disabled and how that led to her eventual prefrontal lobotomy that left her essentially unresponsive for… Continue reading Rosemary Kennedy