Madness at Home: The Psychiatrist, the Patient, and the Family in England, 1820-1860 (Medicine and Society)

273 Pages·2006·3.2 MB·English

by  Akihito Suzuki

Madness at Home
Medicine and Society
Andrew Scull, Editor
This series examines the development of medical knowledge and psychiatric prac-
tice from historical and sociological perspectives. The books contribute to a schol-
arly and critical reflection on the nature and role of medicine and psychiatry in
modern societies.
1. The Regulation of Madness: Origins of Incarceration in France,by Robert Castel,
translated by W.D. Halls
2. Stubborn Children: Controlling Delinquency in the United States, 1640–1981,
by John R. Sutton
3. Social Order/Mental Disorder: Anglo-American Psychiatry in Historical
Perspective,by Andrew Scull
4. Inheriting Madness: Professionalization and Psychiatric Knowledge in
Nineteenth-Century France,by Ian R. Dowbiggin
5. Madness and Social Representations: Living with the Mad in One French
Community,by Denise Jodelet, translated by Tim Pownall, edited
by Gerard Duveen
6. Inventing the Feeble Mind: A History of Mental Retardation in the United States,
by James W. Trent, Jr.
7. Impure Science: AIDS, Activism, and the Politics of Knowledge,
by Steven G. Epstein
8. Mental Ills and Bodily Cures: Psychiatric Treatment in the First Half of the
Twentieth Century,by Joel Braslow
9. Mind Games: American Culture and the Birth of Psychotherapy,by Eric Caplan
10. Imperial Bedlam: Institutions of Madness in Colonial Southwest Nigeria,
by Jonathan Sadowsky
11. Undertaker of the Mind: John Monro and Mad-Doctoring in Eighteenth-Century
England,by Jonathan Andrews and Andrew Scull
12. Customers and Patrons of the Mad Trade: The Management of Lunacy in
Eighteenth-Century London, with the Complete Text of John Monro’s 1766
Case Book,byJonathan Andrews and Andrew Scull
13. Madness at Home: The Psychiatrist, the Patient, and the Family in England,
1820–1860,by Akihito Suzuki
Madness at Home
The Psychiatrist, the Patient,
and the Family in England, 1820–1860
Akihito Suzuki
University of California Press
Berkeley Los Angeles London
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© 2006 by The Regents of the University of California
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Suzuki, Akihito, 1963–.
Madness at home : the psychiatrist, the patient, and
the family in England, 1820–1860 / Akihito Suzuki.
p. ; cm. — (Medicine and society ; 13)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn0-520-24580-6 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. Mentally ill—Care—England—History—19th century.
2. Mentally ill—Home care—England—History—19th
century. 3. Mentally ill—England—Family relationships—
History—19th century. 4. Mental health laws—England—
History—19th century. 5. Psychiatry—England—History—
19th century.
[dnlm: 1. England. 2. Psychiatry—history.
3. History of Medicine, 19th Cent. 4. Mental
Disorders—history. wm 11 fe5 s968m 2006]
I. Title: Psychiatrist, the patient, and the family
in England, 1820–1860. II. Title. III. Series.
rc450.g7s89 2006
616.89'00942'09034—dc22 2005010547
Manufactured in Canada
15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 07 06
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
This book is printed on New Leaf EcoBook 60, contain-
ing 60% post-consumer waste, processed chlorine free;
30% de-inked recycled fiber, elemental chlorine free;
and10% fsc-certified virgin fiber, totally chlorine free.
EcoBook 60 is acid-free and meets the minimum require-
ments of ansi/astmd5634–01(Permanence of Paper).
Illustrations
Figures
1. Numbers of Commissions of Lunacy, 1627–1920 22
2. Numbers of Commissions of Lunacy Aggregated by Decade,
1640s–1910s 23
3. Numbers of Commissions of Lunacy Aggregated by Decade,
1780s–1860s 161
Tables
1. Male and Female Subjects of Commissions of Lunacy,
1620–1853 24
2. Status and Occupations of Male Subjects of Commissions
of Lunacy, 1627–1853 25
3. Numbers of Reports on Commissions of Lunacy
in the London Times,1823–1861 27
4. Income Levels of Those under Commissions of Lunacy,
1839–1859 162
ix
To Mika and Kanako

Contents
List of Illustrations /
ix
Acknowledgments /
xi
Introduction: Psychiatry in the Private
and the Public Spheres / 1
1 / Commissions of Lunacy: Background, Sources,
and Content / 12
2 / The Structure of Psychiatric Practice / 39
3 / The Problems of Liberty and Property / 65
4 / Managing Lunatics within the Domestic Sphere / 91
5 / Destabilizing the Domestic Psychiatric Regime / 119
6 / Public Authorities and the Ambiguities
of the Lunatic at Home / 151
Conclusion / 179
Appendix /
185
Notes /
191
Bibliography /
233
Index /
249