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Dorothea Dix: When will we see your like again in Scotland?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

A. D. T. Robinson*
Affiliation:
MRC Unit for Epidemiological Studies in Psychiatry, University Department of Psychiatry, Royal Edinburgh Hospital, Morningside Park, Edinburgh
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Community care around Edinburgh was very poor during the early 1850s. Insane paupers were often detained without warrant in poorhouses and private houses, with no official visits from the sheriff and no records of care kept. Accommodation was often bad, with scant furnishing, such that inmates might have to eat their meals off their knees. Where patients had dirty habits conditions were described as “very close and unpleasant”. Those who received a wash were those who were noisy or violent, using water that was likely to be cold. Only in the summer might a patient be allowed to bathe in the sea. Sexes were often imperfectly separated though restraints might be used, for example, to a bedstead at night. In some establishments, females might fare better in terms of clothing and food (Scottish Lunacy Commission 1857).

Type
Sketches from the History of Psychiatry
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1989

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