This is an old revision of the document!
1. Gonaver tells us that analysis of race is missing from the declension narratives that are typical of asylum historiography. (17) Is this another example of systemic racism or are their other factors in place?
2. Dr. McClurken’s chapter 5 reading mentions the “social stigma” attached to mental illness in Civil War veterans (139). It states that the stigma of a mentally ill family member could undermine a family’s chance of obtaining economic support from their community. As a nation, do you believe we have come to understand veterans suffering from PTSD? Are we doing enough to help?
Submitted by Bonnie Akkerman I pledge…
1. Although pg. 120 of this “Jeff McClurken” guy's book claims that the Civil War's trauma directly caused or exacerbated mental illnesses in its survivors, much of this chapter focuses on the interesting fact that post-war mental asylums served as a sort of proto-welfare system for bereaved family members. Was this trend a net positive, or did it continue a dangerous precedent of forcing these facilities to work beyond their original boundaries/capabilities?
2. What do you think of the 19th-century mental hospitals this work studies classifying mental illness into: “mania,” “melancholia,” or “dementia”? Were these categories prescient/insightful in any way, or were they wholly reductive?
Submitted by Theron Gertz I pledge…