John Haslam

“ When a man suddenly bursts through the barriers of established opinions; if he attempt to strangle himself with a cord, to divide his larger blood-vessels with a knife, or swallow a vial full of laudanum, no one entertains any doubt of his being a proper subject for the superintendance of keepers, but he is allowed, without control, by a gradual process, to undermine the fabric of his own health, and destroy the prosperity of his family. ”

“ Memory of all the powers of the mind, is the most delicate, and frail: It is the first of our faculties that age invades. Seneca, the Father, the Rhetorician, confesseth of himself, he had a miraculous one, not only to receive, but to hold. ”

“ From the great degree of insensibility which prevails in some states of madness, a degree of cold would scarcely be felt by such persons, which would create uneasiness in those of sound mind; but experience has shewn that they suffer equally from severity of weather. When the mind is particularly engaged on any subject, external circumstances affect us less than when unoccupied. Every one must recollect that, in following up a favourite pursuit, his fire has burned out, without his being sensible of the alteration of temperature ”

“ When we find insanity, as far as has been hitherto observed, uniformly accompanied with disease of the brain, [Pg 241] is it not more just to conclude, that such organic affection has produced this incorrect association of ideas, than that a being, which is immaterial, incorruptible, and immortal, should be subject to the gross and subordinate changes which matter necessarily undergoes?
But let us imagine a disease of ideas. In what manner are we to effect a cure? ”

“ Before treating of the intellect in a deranged state, it will perhaps be expected that some system of the human mind, in its perfect and healthy condition, should be laid down. It will be supposed necessary to establish in what sanity of intellect consists, and to mark distinctly some fixed point, the aberrations from which are to constitute disease. ”

“ It should be as much the object of the teachers of youth, to subjugate the passions, as to discipline the intellect. The tender mind should be prepared to expect the natural and certain effects of causes: its propensity to indulge an avaricious thirst for that which is unattainable, should be quenched: nor should it be suffered to acquire a fixed and invincible attachment to that which is fleeting and perishable.
Of the more immediate, or, as it is generally termed, the proximate cause of this disease, I profess to know nothing. ”

“ Physicians, attending generally to diseases, have not been reserved, in imparting to the public the amount of their labours and success: but, with regard to this disorder, those, who have devoted their whole attention to its treatment, have either been negligent, or cautious of giving information respecting it. Whenever the powers of the mind are concentrated to one object, we may naturally expect a more rapid progress in the attainment of knowledge: we have therefore only to lament the want of observations upon this subject, and endeavour to repair it. ”

“ The reasoners against the transmission of madness urge, that, if the contrary were true, we should by this time have detected the rule or law by which nature acts, and that we should have been able to determine,—First, whether the disorder descended to the male or female children accordingly as the father or mother was affected.—Secondly, which of the parents is most capable of transmitting the disease?—Thirdly, what alternations in the succession take place, does it shift from the male to the female line, and, does it miss a generation, and afterwards return? ”

“ By misfortunes the habit of intoxication is readily formed. Those who in their youth have shaken off calamity as a slight incumbrance, at the middle age feel it corrode and penetrate; and when fermented liquors have once dispelled the gloom of despondency, and taught the mind to provoke a temporary assemblage of cheerful [Pg 257] scenes, or to despise the terror of impending misery, it is natural to recur to the same, though destructive cause, to re-produce the effect. ”

“ Madness has many colours, and colours have many hues; actual madness is a severe calamity, yet experience has pointed out the treatment, and the law has permitted the imposition of the necessary restraint: but it very frequently occurs that the descendants from an insane stock, although they do not exhibit the broad features of madness, shall yet discover propensities, equally disqualifying for the purposes of life, and destructive of social happiness. ”

“ In madness, the delusion we experience is most frequently conveyed through the ear; in dreaming, the deception is commonly optical; we see much, and hear little; indeed dreaming, at least with myself, seems to be a species of intelligible pantomime, that does not require the aid of language to explain it. ”

“ Concerning their diet, it is merely necessary to observe, that it should be light, and easy of digestion. The proper quantity must be directed by the good sense of the superintendant, according to the age and vigour of the patient, and proportioned to the degree of bodily exercise he may be in the habit of using; “but they should never be suffered to live too low, especially while they are under a course of physic.” [33] To my knowledge, no experiments have yet been instituted respecting the diet of insane persons: they have never been compelled to live entirely on farinaceous substances. ”

“ If the patient be so far deprived of understanding, as to be insensible why he is punished, such correction, setting aside its [Pg 289] cruelty, is manifestly absurd: and, if his state be such, as to be conscious of the impropriety of his conduct, there are other methods more mild and effectual. Would any rational practitioner, in a case of phrenitis, or in the delirium of fever, order his patient to be scourged? he would rather suppose, that the brain, or its membranes, were inflamed, and that the incoherence of discourse and violence of action were produced by such local disease. ”

“ Indeed, I have understood from some of these lunatics, who have recovered, that the overseer or master of the work-house himself has frequently been so much under the dominion of this planet, and keeping steadily in mind the old maxim, venienti occurrite morbo, that, without waiting for any display of increased turbulence on the part of the patient, he has bound, chained, flogged, and deprived these miserable people of food, according as he discovered the moon’s age by the almanack. ”

“ The idea that Religion; that which fastens us to the duties of this life; that which expounds the laws of God and of his creation to the ignorant; that which administers consolation to the afflicted; that which regulates man’s conduct towards his fellow creatures, to exercise charity among them, and, from such benevolence, to purchase [Pg 264] happiness to himself: to believe, that the cultivation of such exalted sentiments would decoy a human being into madness, is a foolish and impious supposition. ”

“ Confinement is always necessary in cases of insanity, and should be enforced as early in the disease as possible. By confinement, it is to be understood that the patient should be removed from home. During his continuance at his own house he can never be kept in a tranquil state. The interruptions of his family, the loss of the accustomed obedience of his servants, and the idea of being under restraint, in a place where he considers himself the master, will be constant sources of irritation to his mind. ”

“ Speaking of the effects of management, on a very extensive scale, I can truly declare, that by gentleness of manner, and kindness of treatment, I have seldom failed to obtain the confidence, and conciliate the esteem of insane persons, and have succeeded by these means in procuring from them respect and obedience. There are certainly some patients who are not to be [Pg 294] trusted, and in whom malevolence forms the prominent feature of their character: such persons should always be kept under a certain restraint, but this is not incompatible with kindness and humanity. ”

“ If a cobbler should suppose himself an emperor, this supposition, may be termed an elevated flight, or an extensive stretch of imagination, but it is likewise a great defect in his judgment, to deem himself that which he is not, and it is certainly an equal lapse of his recollection, to forget what he really is. ”

“ It is therefore sinful to accuse Religion, which preserves the dignity and integrity of our intellectual faculty, with being the cause of its derangement. The mind becomes refreshed and corroborated by a fair and active exercise of its powers directed to [Pg 265] proper objects; but when an anxious curiosity leads us to unveil that which must ever be shrouded from our view, the despair, which always attends those impotent researches, will necessarily reduce us to the most calamitous state. ”

“ In holding conferences with patients in order to discover their insanity, no advantage has ever been derived from assuming a magisterial importance, or by endeavouring to stare them out of countenance: a mildness of manner and expression, an attention to their narrative, and seeming acquiescence in its truth, succeed much better. By such conduct they acquire confidence in the practitioner; and if he will have patience, and not too frequently interrupt them, they will soon satisfy his mind as to the derangement of their intellects. ”

“ The difficulty of proposing a satisfactory theory of the human mind, must have been felt by every person, who has touched this delicate string since the days of Aristotle, and failure must be expected in him who attempts it: yet the endeavour is laudable, and miscarriage is not linked with disgrace. Every contribution, to illustrate what are the powers of mind we possess; how we are acted upon by external circumstances in the acquisition of knowledge ”

“ We have a number of patients in Bethlem Hospital, whose ideas are in the most disordered state, who yet act, upon ordinary occasions, with great steadiness and propriety, and are capable of being trusted to a considerable extent. A fact of such importance in the history of the human mind, might lead us to hope, that by superinducing different habits of thinking, the irregular associations would be corrected.
It is impossible to effect this suddenly, or by reasoning, for madmen can never be convinced of the folly of their opinions. Their belief in them is firmly fixed, and cannot be shaken. ”

“ Instituting a generous and tolerant survey of religious opinions, we see nothing in the solemn pomp of catholic worship which could disorganize the mind; as human beings, they have employed human art to render the impression more vivid and durable. ”

“ Medicine has generally been esteemed a progressive science, in which its professors have confessed themselves indebted to great preparatory study and long subsequent experience for the knowledge they have acquired; but, in the case to which we are now alluding, the outset of the Doctor’s practice was marked with such splendid success, that time and observation have been unable to increase it. ”

“ Music has been found to occasion all these actions, changes, and movements, in some sensible systems; and where one passion morbidly [Pg 342] predominates, as frequently happens in mania, those species of simple or combined sounds, capable of exciting an opposite passion, may be very usefully employed. If then such effects can be produced by such a power, acting on a mind only endued with its healthy proportion of susceptibility, what may we not expect where the sensibility is morbidly increased, and where the patient is alive to the most minute impressions? ”

“ The investigation of the hereditary tendency of madness is an object of the utmost importance, both in a legal and moral point of view. Parents and guardians, in the disposal, or direction of the choice of their children in marriage, should be informed, that an alliance with a family, where insanity has prevailed, ought to be prohibited.
Having directed some attention to enquiries of this nature, I am enabled truly to [Pg 230] state, that, where one of the parents have been insane, it is more than probable that the offsprings will be similarly affected. ”