[ Catherine Subramanian ] Typescript entitled Observations on the English Mental Hospital System & Suggestions for Reforms.

24pp., 4to, good condition. With a sprinkling of annotation. Author's Summary: 1. Introduction; 2. Life in four different mental institutions is described. These Institutions comprise:- A. A privately owned nursing home; B. A county mental hospital; C. A small town general hospital mental obs. ward; D. A large city general hospital mental obs. ward; 3. Legislative and medical administrative reforms are suggested and discussed. Quotation from the Introduction: I have lived for two months in mental institutions, sharing the life of the patients for the full twenty-four hour day. During this time I interested myself in the study of hospital conditions and in the observation of some of the cases with which I came into contact. As I have only empirical knowledge of mental or nervous disorders and as I had not previously been a resident patient in any hospital, I approached the question of mental institution life with an open and enquiring mind. My own experience of distressing symptoms, such as those of claustrophobia, my careful training as a scientific worker and my deep interest in people fitted me to assess the different aspects of hospital life with discernment. Sometimes it was difficult for me to remain detached from my surroundings, as a prolonged confinement among mentally unbalanced people is an exhausting and even terrifying mode of existence. As, however, no human problem can be adequately solved by purely emotional argument, this lack of detachment in itself helped me to appreciate the needs and shortcomings of mental hospitals. Writing now in retrospect, I believe that, after several weeks of quiet reflection, I can present my experience in an unbiassed way and as a useful contribution to knowledge.[...] the patients were organised for the hospitals, not hospitals for the patients [...] I shall now describe the conditions found in each of these hospitals and then suggest reforms for an incredibly obsolete and sometimes vicious and derogatory administrative system [...]. Her subjects for her suggestions for reform include: Private ownership (to be abolished), Legislation (to be amended), Diet and personal hygiene; increased range of facilities for different kinds of treatment, a system introduced for accurate assessment of the psychological factor in forms of mental illness. She expands on these topics. Note: This extended essay derives from the surviving papers of Catherine Beatrice Hendry, later Catherine Subramanian. Hendry graduated from the University of London with First Class Honours in Chemistry and Science.