West Riding Pauper Lunatic Asylum in Wakefield opened its doors in 1818 as a place to house “paupers” with mental illness in the UK. The asylum was exemplary for the time, built to house 1000 inmates and cure them of their manias. The following series of photos were taken circa 1869 of patients at the asylum, which later became the Stephen Royd Hospital, closing its doors in 1995. You’ll notice that “mania” is a common diagnosis for the patients, now called “manic disorder.” Some of the patients are diagnosed with “mono-mania,” or an obsession with one thing or idea despite being otherwise sane. Others are diagnosed with “mono-mania of pride” – believing themselves to be figures of historical importance – or “mania of suspicion” – paranoid – and all were kept in the “gaol-like buildings” of the West Riding Pauper Lunatic Asylum. Pictures like this are a window into the history of the silenced, of society’s cast-offs, and they are haunting to look at…
Images via Wellcome Images CC
Further reading:
