A new book, Bedlam, examines London's treatment of the insane over the centuries, from the founding of Bedlam to the establishment of Victorian institutions. People used to visit Bedlam to see the lunatics - there were 96,000 visits in 1814. Entry was free on the first Tuesday of the month. Visitors were permitted to bring sticks to poke and enrage inmates. George III suffered recurrent mental illness later in life. Although it baffled medical science at the time, it is now thought that he suffered from the blood disease porphyria Hogarth's Gin Lane - depicting 18th Century London - shows shocking scenes of infanticide, starvation, madness, decay and suicide. Poet and artist William Blake claimed he saw angels in Peckham Rye and claimed to experience visions throughout his life. Wordsworth said of him: "There was no doubt that this poor man was mad." Richard Dadd, who died in 1886, was a painter noted for his depictions of fairies and other supernatural subjects. He murdered his father in 1843 and was committed to Bedlam. Cures for madness have included eating a roasted mouse. The Romans preferred drilling a hole in the patient's skull to release bad spirits. Leeching, vomiting and exorcism were also used. Back 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Next



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