Over the course of time, in the past two centuries, the manner in which cases of mental illnesses have been reported and dealt with has changed a great deal. One of the most renowned cases and perhaps one of the most important ones too has been of Mary Lamb.
In 1976, in a fit of rage, after committing the murder of her own mother, Mary’s condition was declared as lunacy, and the only breadwinner of the poor family was then immediately sent to a madhouse. Before the incident took place the family had already gone weary of her condition which is why Mary’s brother also intended to consult a doctor in this regard. But before anything could have been done, the night of September 21 1796, Mary had attacked and killed her mother also inflicting wounds on her father John Lamb. Mary was not incarcerated and held accountable for her actions, the common law of the country had no regulations for someone having any medical illness. (Appignanesi, pp 13-49)
Given the same incident took place in the current day, not only would the murderer be held accountable but be found in a psychiatric ward, being treated for the mental illness, rather than being merely confined in a madhouse like Mary was. Mary faced a problem of recurring attacks of her mental condition. She made several visits to and stayed in the madhouses, both public and private, whenever she or her brother sensed her illness coming back. She was aware of her condition and chose to go back in retreat and confinement every time she sensed she could become a danger for others. Mary still lived through periods of considerable sanity, during which she assisted her brother on many literary works. One would assume that despite the violent attack she made, Mary was not all that insane after all. There were a number of reasons identified as being responsible for Mary’s condition, one of the most important ones being her troubled childhood, lack of love she received from her mother. Given that it seems right to say Mary required the attention and love her brother chose to give her by keeping her close to himself, by looking after her on his own. His methods did work, gave fruitful results, her literary works and the last few years she spent in good condition even after her brother’s death, seem to serve as an evidence.
But here the question seems to be if keeping her among the public was a right decision or not, someone else too could be killed at her hands. Madhouses of that time had no form of proper diagnoses, let alone treatment, confinement only helped keep her away. But what if things went wrong while Mary was living with Charles?
51 years old Lisa Caplan of Palmerton, had been already diagnosed of suffering from mental illnesses, had been taken into psychiatric facility too. But after the last time she was released, late last year she killed her own mother. It was reported that this was the medical negligence of the psychiatric facility, and it was also true that even though Lisa had a history of mental illnesses, nothing of such a nature had happened. (Michlowski)
From a broader comparison it seems that both Mary and Lisa faced the problem of a recurring illness, were often led out of and led back in to an area away from their households, but Mary didn’t even receive any form of treatment while Lisa did. Yet one in an aggravated state killed her mother while the other already had and was not charged guilty. But given like Lisa Mary too could be released at a time when she shouldn’t have been, was it really right after all to release Mary or will it be to release anyone else in today’s times? What standards have we set to judge whether a person is cured and safe to be let out of constant medical observation facilities? In Mary’s times diagnostic facilities may not have been up-to the mark, but are the treatments of today that focus less on logical deduction and more on prescribing pills better in this regard? It is true that we cannot chain down anyone in any psychiatric facility forever, they come here for treatments not as a punishment to be sentenced to life imprisonment. But doesn’t that call more critical analysis of the patient’s condition? Medical negligence can be reported, but are we learning anything from the history of such cases? What should be our course of action and how should we proceed with it still remains an important question. But first it is vital to acknowledge that our diagnostic techniques, treatments and facilities have improved, but not enough. There is still much room of improvement and much work to be done before we can reach a satisfactory status regarding understanding, diagnosing and treating mental illnesses. Our purpose is treatment and rehabilitation, not confinement. But with that we can certainly not take risks on other human lives too, blindly. There is a need to revisit and reanalyze our forms of treatments and judgments associated with mental illnesses.
Works Cited
Appignanesi, Lisa. Mad, Bad and Sad: a History of Women and the Mind Doctors from 1800 to the Present. Virago, 2010. pp 13-49
Michlowski, Bill. “Attorney: Daughter Accused of Killing Mother with Crossbow Has 'Long-Standing History' of Mental Illness.” WNEP.com, WNEP, 30 Sept. 2017, wnep.com/2017/09/30/attorney-daughter-accused-of-killing-mother-with-crossbow-has-long-standing-history-of-mental-illness/.
