Difference between revisions of "Portal:Featured Article Of The Week"

From Asylum Projects
Jump to: navigation, search
(553 intermediate revisions by 2 users not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
 
{{FAformat
 
{{FAformat
|Title= Thomas Story Kirkbride
+
|Title= Kew Lunatic Asylum
|Image= Thomas Story Kirkbride.jpg
+
|Image= kew1885.png
|Width= 200px
+
|Width= 150px
|Body= Born into a Quaker family in Morrisville, Pennsylvania, Kirkbride began a study of medicine in 1831 under Dr. Nicholas Belleville, of Trenton, New Jersey when he was eighteen. After receiving a medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1832, Kirkbride originally sought to become a surgeon, and had his own practice from 1835 to 1840.
+
|Body= The Kew Asylum was first opened in 1871 as a ward of Yarra Bend. For a short period Kew was also known as the "Metropolitan Asylum". Many of Kew's early patients were transferred from Yarra Bend and the Collingwood Asylum. In October 1872 Kew was proclaimed a separate institution from Yarra Bend.
  
In 1840 Kirkbride was asked to become superintendent of the newly established Pennsylvania Hospital for the Insane. He accepted for largely practical reasons, as his training and experience interning at Friends' Asylum and at Philadelphia's Pennsylvania Hospital provided him with the necessary background for the position. As Superintendent he became one of the most prominent authorities on mental health care in the latter half of the nineteenth century.
+
After World War II there was a period of significant change in the treatment and prognosis for people with a mental illness. Drugs such as Lithium carbonate (discovered in 1948 by Australian psychiatrist Dr John Cade) and chlorpromazine (discovered in 1950's) lead to improvements in treatment. Thus many people with a mental illness could in many cases be treated in hospital for a shorter period and return to the community. The Mental Health Act of 1959 designated hospitals providing short-term diagnosis and accommodation as "psychiatric hospitals". Therefore any institution could have a section designated as a mental hospital for long-term or indefinite hospitalisation and a section designated as a psychiatric hospital for short term diagnosis and treatment of acute psychiatric illness.
  
In 1844, Kirkbride helped to found AMSAII, serving as secretary, then later as president from 1862 to 1870. Kirkbride pioneered what would be known as the Kirkbride Plan, to improve medical care for the insane, as a standardization for buildings that housed the patients. [[Thomas Story Kirkbride|Click here for more...]]
+
In 1962 the decision was made to no longer house acute or short-term patients at Kew and therefore it was formally proclaimed a Mental Hospital under the Mental Health Act of 1959. Up until this time, Kew Mental Hospital was still colloquially known as 'Kew Asylum'. [[Kew Lunatic Asylum|Click here for more...]]
 
}}
 
}}

Revision as of 04:24, 9 August 2020

Featured Article Of The Week

Kew Lunatic Asylum


kew1885.png

The Kew Asylum was first opened in 1871 as a ward of Yarra Bend. For a short period Kew was also known as the "Metropolitan Asylum". Many of Kew's early patients were transferred from Yarra Bend and the Collingwood Asylum. In October 1872 Kew was proclaimed a separate institution from Yarra Bend.

After World War II there was a period of significant change in the treatment and prognosis for people with a mental illness. Drugs such as Lithium carbonate (discovered in 1948 by Australian psychiatrist Dr John Cade) and chlorpromazine (discovered in 1950's) lead to improvements in treatment. Thus many people with a mental illness could in many cases be treated in hospital for a shorter period and return to the community. The Mental Health Act of 1959 designated hospitals providing short-term diagnosis and accommodation as "psychiatric hospitals". Therefore any institution could have a section designated as a mental hospital for long-term or indefinite hospitalisation and a section designated as a psychiatric hospital for short term diagnosis and treatment of acute psychiatric illness.

In 1962 the decision was made to no longer house acute or short-term patients at Kew and therefore it was formally proclaimed a Mental Hospital under the Mental Health Act of 1959. Up until this time, Kew Mental Hospital was still colloquially known as 'Kew Asylum'. Click here for more...