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1.The last reading by Frances Farmer (314-325) is a scathing critique of Western State Hospital in Washington state. Farmer was brutalized the entire time she was a patient. I am familiar with her biography and the paranoid schizophrenic Ms. Farmer was arrested quite a few times for disorderly conduct and assaults on civilians and police. What kinds of humane treatments should be implemented for seriously ill patients that are physically combative?
2.Lenore McCall finishes her story talking about four valuable months spent in the hospital and how she learned “lessons in the art of living.” (293) It is interesting that a woman given the horrible insulin treatment (290-292) would emerge from it with such a positive attitude. Anyone have thoughts on this?
Submitted by Bonnie Akkerman I pledge…
1. One of the more striking accounts in this chapter is from Marian King, who was a patient in a private mental hospital in D.C. in the 1920s (Geller and Harris, 265-74). She is committed for a drug problem and appears to be a spoiled brat. Compared to the other ladies whose stories we hear of in this chapter, she is treated with much more dignity. Her description makes it seem like she is in a drug rehab program for the wealthy. The nurses are a bit mean to her, but other than that her descriptions of her experience are not nearly as bad as the others. If indeed she comes from a rich family, how would a drug treatment program differ for a woman of less means in this period?
2. On the opposite side of the spectrum is the story from Frances Farmer, who had been hospitalized in California and Washington state, 1943-1950 (Geller and Harris, 314-25). She opens her account by repeating four times that she “survived” her experience in mental hospitals (314). She goes on to describe the horrid conditions she was subjected to, including being tied up, tortured with ice baths and living in fetid conditions. When she was released, she says she was a broken person. The way she describes her experience was like she had been a POW, which makes me wonder if she suffered from what we call PTSD today. She doesn’t go into much detail about her post-release symptoms, but her statement that she “crawled out mutilated, whimpering and terribly alone” sounds like she suffered from the psychological trauma that former POWs and combat veterans suffer who are diagnosed with PTSD.
Submitted by Chris O'Neill
1. One of the things that really struck me about today's readings was the account by Marian King. Her experience is much different when compared to the other women's. One thing I noticed was how childlike she was. She is, to put it bluntly, a spoiled brat when compared to the others. To her the experience of being confined to a mental institution is almost like going to a country club, which was exactly the impression I got while reading her account. I know none of us are doctors of any kind, but something about her childlike glee and fixation on activities and other patients is more than a little unsettling given what we know about other women of this time. What did everyone else think of this?
2. Going off a my previous question, would you consider Marion King's experience to be an exception to the rule? Or do we truly think she had reason for being in the asylum that may very well be affecting her account?
3. One of the things I noticed is the uncanny ability of these women to simply observe their surroundings. They appear to treat the asylum as if it is an experiment to be watched, hoping to see a particular outcome. Why do you think this is such a common theme found in this (and previous) readings?
Submitted by Lyndsey Clark. I pledge…