In the XIX century journalist pretended crazy to expose torture in psychiatric hospitals

It is no secret that the conditions of detention in psychiatric institutions of the XIX century were horrifying. Doctors used a miserable terrible treatments that did not help the sick, and it was likely torture and abuse, than a real help to the patient.

Famous experiment Rozenhana once again proved that when it comes to diagnosis, doctors are not able to distinguish healthy from the sick person. Just imagine how many absolutely adequate and mentally healthy people were hidden in terrible places where just went crazy on the conditions of detention and torture.

In 1887, the American journalist Nellie Bly opened the public the truth about psychiatric hospitals, pretending crazy. What she experienced there and saw an American described in the book "10 days in a lunatic asylum."

Nellie Bly, whose real name was Elizabeth Cochran (while women journalists often wrote under a pen name), has agreed to pretend to be crazy to get into the women's psychiatric hospital on Roosevelt Island (then called Blackwell). Before that, she sat for four months without a penny, moved from Pittsburgh to New York and wanted to settle in the New York World newspaper to the very Joseph Pulitzer.

In his book, she described the moment when the editor asked her to investigate, "" How did you rescue me then - I asked him - when I get there? "

"I do not know - he said - but we'll take you out, even if I have to tell you who you are, what is your goal and what you pretended crazy, just to get inside." However, I had little faith in my ability to fool the doctors, and my editor, and even more so. " Nellie did not even suspect that it will be able not only to get inside, but also to change their lives after what she saw there.

A to get into a mental hospital, Nelly had to perfect their game in the madness. It was no easy task, because the journalist had never seen live psihbolnyh.

A few days later, she practiced at home in front of a mirror, even ceased to wash. Once Nellie became convinced that her acting is convincing, she went to a hostel for women under the name of Nellie Brown and start your presentation.

All this time the journalist was afraid that no one would believe it, and it will show up immediately.

"I thought, Why, what must be a difficult task - to appear in front of a crowd of people and convince everyone that I am insane. I've never seen crazy, and I had no idea how they behave. And then, I will have to explore a few psychiatrists who have made it their profession and life every day in contact with the crazy people. How could I hope to go through all these specialists and to convince them that I am mad? I'm afraid that will not be able to deceive them. "

Nelly successfully feigned mental illness and amnesia and came to a psychiatric hospital on Blackwell's Island. Woman held in the hospital only 10 days, and what she saw there, it plunged into shock. If the hospital journalist was absolutely healthy and adequate person, after she was constantly scared and depressed. In her book she describes in detail all the torture suffered by the unfortunate patients.

• Patients are constantly kept in the cold, they trembled and begged to give them warm clothes.
• Women constantly beaten if they did not obey orders.
• Nelly also mentioned that the security measures against women were absent. Had a fire in the building, the patient would be burned alive in their rooms, because nobody would have went to unlock them.
• Patients who were considered dangerous, bound with ropes instead of proper care.

One of the biggest trials in the mental hospital was the food.

Patients were given iced tea and bread without butter, which was simply inedible, the meat was spoiled, and drinking water - dirty. Once Nelly I found in their eating spider. If patients refused to eat, they were beaten. Everywhere was garbage and the rats running around.

Hygiene and water treatments fared even worse. Bly described that it is completely made in the presence of the remaining strip and wash in cold water. "My teeth chattered, and his arms and legs were covered with goose bumps and blue. Suddenly my head one after another poured three buckets of ice water, which seemed to be everywhere - in the eyes, ears, nose and mouth. I think I experienced something comparable to what a drowning man feels. When they dragged me, gasping and trembling, out of the bath, I really looked like a crazy person. "

The water was dirty, like itself bathroom, and the patients were given general all towels.

From 6 to 8 in the morning, patients had to sit on a hard bench without moving. They were not allowed to read or write. The reporter noted many times in the book that such conditions can quickly and healthy person swoon. After his release, Nellie Bly wrote a devastating article that became a sensation and made her famous.

After Article Nelly released his book, where in detail told about the torture and abuse that is going on behind closed doors of a psychiatric clinic. The book quickly became a hit, and as a result of the investigation of the concerned authorities of the city and had formed a large inquest jury. Department of Public charitable and correctional institutions have increased the budget by 850 thousand dollars, and the jury made sure that from now on only seriously ill people are sent to psychiatric hospitals.

Subsequently, Nellie Bly became so well-known journalist, rounded light in less than 80 days, it began to learn, and it significantly interfered with work. In '31 Nelly married millionaire Robert Simon, who was older than her 42 years. Journalistic profession, she left and began to care for her husband, which is less than 10 years old was hit by a horse. Widowed and went bankrupt, Nelly is back to the pen. At the age of 57 years, the famous Nellie Bly died in a hospital in New York from pneumonia.