Customer Reviews

Women of the Asylum: Voices from Behind the Walls, 1840-1945

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The accounts treated in this study of interned women are a chilling assortment of shattered lives. Always in the periphery of each story is the question of how mental illness is defined and used by society as an instrument of exclusion or social conditioning. This historical and anecdotal aspect of this book is nonetheless relevant as the horrors and indignities (degradation and abuse, rape, etc.) have continued on into our times, though with albeit increased scrutiny. The 'use' of psychiatry for nontherapeutic ends is as horrifying as it commonplace; a variety of hair-raising studies (such as Dangerous Minds by Robin Munro) have examined its political use. I prefer individual narratives to surveys of cases--autobiographies or diaries-- in the unusual situation in which the interned woman was sufficiently lucid to be able to recount her experience. There is admittedly almost always an element of sexual oppression and domination to these stories, as the Institution or its principals proceed to impose their agenda or themselves on the helpless victims. Narratives such as Running with the Devil by Margot Zimmermann or Writing on the Wall by Mary Elene Wood, like Geller's Women of the Asylum, are rife with material for a prurient film.

I bought this book but haven't finished reading it completely yet. I find the material very interesting and I love that the book also includes the historical background and framework of the excerpts inside. The entries for each woman are rather short, though. I was hoping for longer pieces by the women who were imprisoned. Though I feel that the work is overedited, I have still been enjoying the reading.

In collecting and commenting upon the first-hand accounts of women held in U.S. asylums from 1840 - 1945, Geller and Harris shed light on the changing treatment of women by the medical profession and by society at large. Who decides who is mad? What constitutes madness? This book offers haunting accounts from the inmates and provocative commentary from the editors. I read it for research, and it helped inspire a play and a novel. For anyone interested in issues of mental health and misogyny.

I bought this book to do research about asylum life and it does an excellent job with that by telling real stories that are gripping and compelling. But what has fascinated me even more is that the book puts the stories into context of the time period. There are 4 time periods 1840-1865, 1866-1890, 1891 - 1920 and 1921 - 1945. Jeffrey Geller put together a concise yet rich historical context of each time period to set the stage for the personal stories that are to come. From a sociological and woman's studies perspective, these overviews of the time periods are fascinating. I read the first one a couple times. They are incredibly well researched with references cited. I was in the middle of reading this book and even took it on the airplane with me to finish where I might ordinarily take a compelling fiction book. Well done. This book is a great investment and I would recommend it to my girlfriends to make them appreciate how far women have come.

This work provides a much needed collective human voice on the lack of dignity, physical violence and other horrors of women undergoing "treatment" in Insane Asylums from the 1840's to WWII. The reader learns that it is very easy for a husband to discard his wife - commit her to an asylum - and that it is correspondingly difficult for her to get out. If you didn't know how force feeding, cold packs, and early shock therapy were done, this set of clear voices will tell you. Much of the writing belies some literary talent among the inmates/patients, and I wonder what sort of writings these women would have produced without being shut in.

The period covered here corresponds to a time in our society where women had made some strides towards improvement in their collective lot. This book shows the flip side of such progress, with married women still in the grip of their husband's will and his willingness to use it for ill.

I read this book a month ago and I can still call up, in vivid fashion, horrors described by these Women of the Asylum. It is a good thing that so many are included in a book format such as this. The history of psychiatric medicine cannot be written without them.

An unsettling, chronological account of women, the psychiatric community and the institutions that held them captive. Riveting first person descriptions that allow you to peer into the dark corners of our past. History, told by real people, living real lives, unfolds in front of your eyes. A fabulously rewarding read for those interested in history, women's studies or psychology. Disquieting, fascinating, and thought-provoking

Since the Reagan era cuts in funding for public psychiatric facilities and programs, many of us (particularly city dwellers) have noticed the increase of people who need psychiatric treatment, or at least medication, and have no where to go. People wandering the streets talking to invisible partners has become an almost everyday sight. Yet, in the past century, such people would be quickly thrown into an institution, or rather, asylum. In fact, as Women of the Asylum demonstrates, it would take much less cause than talking to oneself to wind up in an asylum. Many husbands, brothers, fathers, community members, and even friends, committed or helped to commit totally sane, albeit strong-willed, women to asylums simply because they expressed an unusual opinion, were too forthright, or even because a husband was tired of his wife and wanted to get rid of her (in a legal fashion, of course). The 26 women whose accounts of asylum life are recorded in this book, have used their strength of mind and spirit to bear witness to the heinous, witch-craft style crimes perpetrated both by the act of commission and within the asylum walls themselves for over a century (from 1840-1945). Though we like to think we have progressed, certainly our tolerance and concern for the mentally insane has not really gotten so sympathetic. Perhaps today instead of locking someone up, we simply let them wander the streets homeless, send them to a therapist, or put them on prozac. In fact, many of us self-diagnose and self-administer our own treatment. In our times, we still see women abused in on the street, in domestic situations, and because of workplace inequalities. And today, if a husband wants to get rid of his wife, rather than divorce her, he may simply hire someone to shoot her. Times have certainly changed, or have they

This book was only fair. The intros were boring. It would have been more interesting without the editing and also would have been good to have any information on what finally happened to the women. Some of them may have truly been insane.

This book was horribly written. No details. The intro was drawn out and boring (accounts for about one-sixth of the book). I couln't even finish it. Absolutely no details about treatment. It only addresses how easy it was for spouses to commit someone to an asylum, period.

Author's feeble attempt to use the heartfelt writings of female psychiatric patients to bolster personal view of mental health system's past and lace it with selected historical perspectives of women's rights issues serves only to undermine their efforts. Allowing the women's writings to stand alone would have served a greater purpose. Instead the author(s) sullied the women's works.