10 Days in a Mad-House by Nellie Bly (1887)
Laura’s Rating: 3.5/5 Stars
This nonfiction book was initially published as a series of articles for the New York World, later published together as a novel in 1887. I wanted to read this account because it was cited by Greer Macallister as an inspiration and factual basis for her book Woman 99.
The Analysis:
American journalist Nellie Bly went undercover into an insane asylum in the 1880s in order to investigate claims of brutality and neglect. She wrote a series of articles detailing her experience in a semi-narrative structure that reads like a diary or a friend recounting a story. Nellie described the circumstances that led to her becoming a patient at the Women's Lunatic Asylum on Blackwell's Island in New York City. She shed light on the arbitrary determination of mental illness, often among poor, working women. She recounted her harrowing experience in the asylum, which eventually led to a grand jury investigation that resulted in an $850,000 increase in the budget of the Department of Public Charities and Corrections and improved future examinations of conditions.
Nellie wrote that many of the patients she met at the facility were sent there because they were inconvenient or impoverished, rather than truly insane. After meeting some of them, she wrote, “I determined then and there that I would try by every means to make my mission of benefit to my suffering sisters; that I would show how they are committed without ample trial.” She also pointed out that even criminals are given the chance to prove their innocence, while after patients were declared insane, they had no hope of escaping or proving their sanity.
Nellie describes the asylum as pristinely white (made so by patients, not nurses) and freezing cold. Patients were given minimal clothing and blankets to keep warm and the food was often spoiled or inedible. Those who complained were chastised for criticising the “charity” they were being given. The women were often humiliated and endured harsh treatment including beatings and disregard for medical conditions. Nellie points out the irony of treating mentally ill women in this way, saying, “What, excepting torture, would produce insanity quicker than this treatment?” While I didn’t particularly love Nellie’s writing style, the profound impact of her undercover experience and subsequent account cannot be denied. Nellie Bly’s bravery likely improved the lives of thousands of women and changed the sphere of mental health forever.