Mania. 



K*f T i- 



bin to be 



M hi - 



niL 



the manaj; -ment of a lunatic, talents of the same sort 

 are requiri.l a in conducting the moral edvcttion of 

 chile! o political affairs of nations. The ge- 



neral principles to be adopted are the same, and the 

 difference in their application is less in reality than 

 in appearance. A keeper should shew the patient that 

 he is so completely m his power as to render all re- 

 sistance on his part vain, and at the lame time convince 

 him tiiat this power is not to be exercised under the in- 

 fluence of passion or caprice ; that it is to be confined 

 to salutary restraint, and not extended to the infliction 

 of severities. The boundaries of indulgence ought, 

 bowerer, to be clearly understood ; the patient's re- 

 miests, when improper, mu-t be refu-ed with a mild 

 firmness, and na vague hoje< held out to him which 

 are not be fulfilled. The mild character of the treat- 

 ment most always appear to be that in which the pa- 

 tient's attendants take the greatest pleasure. 



The plan of treatment, with respect to severity or 

 mildness, requires) to be adapted to the former habits of 

 the pntient. A man who h*> lived in a polished society, 

 in which deference has been shewn to his feelings, will be 

 greatly injured by a degree of harshness which would 

 be productive of ho harm to a person who has been 

 used to submit tamely to severities. As instances of 

 the latter, I'inel particularizes the negroes of Jamaica; 

 but it may be doubted, considering the former hitorv 

 of a great part of these individuals, how fur their minds 

 are subdued to their situation. In the Russian boor, 

 who is accustomed to feel the master's lash as a neces- 

 sary incitement to his daily labour*, we probably have 

 a better example of a person to whom, in a ute of ma- 

 nu . a certain degree of harshness would be of serv ice. If 

 a penon of these habits were to be treated with all the 

 mildness that u used in a French lunatic asylum, he 

 would be rendered unfit for returning to hi< former si- 

 tuation. Universal experience shew* the danger of ha- 

 bituating any penon for a time to indulgences which 

 cannot be secured to him for the remainder of In 

 __ Any sort of mooning with a maniacal patient ought 

 us* to be very sprin K ly employed. I'inel mentions a case of 

 ehgimi IIUIIM, which he attempted to cure by reasoning 

 the patient out of his irrational opinions ; but the at- 

 tempt only served to rouse him to the mmt furiou. 

 nation sg>n>t the impiety of the penon wh 

 the sacredneM of hi. t.vourite doctrines. Reasoning 

 een on more indifferent affairs only gives the patient 

 an ..oportmniN to ^r-.tnv his ranitj ! > d.-^: ;.- I,., 

 eloquence in reply. . not to improve his 



xancj in the application ol language, hut to rentore 

 at solidity of thought which u independent of the 

 we of word*, and that mental composure which no 

 words can represent. Vernal reasoning shews too 

 rnucb fiatle to accomplish the recovery of our patient 

 Silent and steady means, accompanied with frankness, 

 and free from all sullen affecUtton of ta it., 

 enabl. , uc h surer .tep,. to conduit a favourable 



ease _to a complete reco> i 



instarce^ ii. which a li't e 

 fraud tes I*,,, r ,-.o,te.' t.. ,ti, nurktrl . rantagi 



wt, however, void of ctan^er. It thr fmud i* 

 pected, u no only loses its effeit, but excites the pa- 

 tienfs indignation. Instance* have happened in which, 

 liter an apparent recovery produced in thi< manner, an 



"iPj"?"" 1 '' th '''"T* 1011 >* created reflections 

 i have been followed l.y complete rel ,i>t. I'er- 

 len liable to occur with the French than 

 Hriu-h at the former, setting more value 



I N S A N I T V. 



1 





on the politeness of the moment, and less on plain 

 dealing, are probably less affected by a slight ikrtp- """"i^" 

 tion where no other serious consequences are produced 

 by it. 



lU-njular labour is often of great use in assisting the 1,'tility of 

 recovery of maniacs ; but in public establishments in labour. 

 this country, a general provision for that object has not 

 been made. It requires very ex'ict precautions to find 

 employment for such as are fit for it, and at the same 

 time to prevent any of the patients from having access 

 to tools of which they might make a dangerous use. 

 For this purpose, the separation of the patients, accord- 

 ing to a judicious classification of their cases, is indis- 

 pensable ; and provision will undoubtedly be made for 

 ilr* in the arrangement of all new public establishments 

 for the treatment of the insane. 



When the high symptoms of mania have subsided, it Restoration 

 will be proper to allow the patient to see a little of socie- ' todttj. 

 ty : hence those who are in a mild or convalescent state 

 in an hospital are allowed to associate together, and those 

 who are farther advanced associate with the servants 

 and superintendanu of the house. There are certain 

 states in which an opportunity may be allowed for the 

 return of the former sympathies of life, by gradually 

 permitting the patient to receive frequent visits from 

 .ir relations. One instance in which sympathy 

 operated in the cells of the Manchester Workhouse, for- 

 cibly struck the writer of this article as one of those for- 

 tunate occurrences which it is not easy to repeat by any 

 contrivance. A maniac waa visited by his wife and 

 two children, one of whom gave him an apple : this cir- 

 cumstance awakened his sensibility, and made him melt 

 into tears. The scene was observed by the worst patient 

 in the house, the furious woman who has been already 

 mentioned ; her ferocity was immediately subdued, and 

 she wept along with that unfortunate parent, recollect- 

 ing, no doubt, the children whom she herself left at 

 home. From that day she made speedy advances to a 

 state of perfect composure, and in a few weeks was dia. 

 I cured. In this instance it was apparent that, 

 though the in< ident was in itself fortunate, it was equal- 

 Iv turtunate that she had not in the fir*t instance, seen 

 any of her own childrrn. Inthatcase the associate 

 ideas mght hax> ind those feelings of 



passionate irriution with which -he was affected in the 

 U-ginniMc ot the disease ; whereas the feelings of ma- 

 ternal affection, In-ing ev trom >iu-h associa- 

 tions, had time toa<i|uirr ^reatci inHutnce, till they be- 

 came umVuiillv (Mwerful to fortily her against t 

 passions by which they had been supplaniril. 



It a|i|x- . view whu-h Or. I'owcl givesof the inciwc of 



return* made in diflrrmt years ince 1775, that insanity in.vm)- m 

 is on the increase in Britain, and that this increase is Bnuun. 

 in greater proportion than that of the progressive po- 

 pulation of the country. Tuis fact muit arise from the 

 more extensive operation of the moral causes of the <h -- 

 order already specified, and others analogous to them, 

 and might tuggest to the politician and the moralist 



maUri ;ai t r, rl- rtioll. 



According to the .returns lately furnished, in obe- R e t, Irnio f 

 to the act of parliament, from all the p.irUhes of imam- p tr - 

 Scotland, in number W2, with the t xception of 239, on in Scot- 

 the number of insane persons was 3489. '"'' 



Of these, there were at large 

 confined 



. . 28W 



3180 



