https://vmps.omeka.net/items/browse?tags=St.+Elizabeth%27s+Hospital&output=atom2024-03-28T11:54:20-04:00Omekahttps://vmps.omeka.net/items/show/224
St. Elizabeths Hospital, which opened in 1855, was the first national mental hospital in the United States. At the time, not much was known about what caused mental illness. In 1884, Isaac W. Blackburn, a pathologist, was appointed the task of researching the pathology of mental illness.
The early mission of the hospital was to "provide the most humane care and enlightened curative treatment of the insane of the Army, Navy, and District of Columbia." By the 1940s, it covered over 300 acres and provided treatment to 7,000 patients, the "first and only federal mental hospital with a national scope."
Treatments at the hospital included art therapy and hydrotherapy, one of the innovations of St. Elizabeths. Therapies such as "moral treatment" (the use of homelike surroundings to illustrate healthy behavior) were also used.
Today, the original building is a designated National Historic Landmark.]]>2023-02-24T18:31:00-05:00
Title
W.W. Godding, Superintendent of St. Elizabeth's Hospital
Today, research on alcohol/drug abuse and mental health is conducted under the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). However, government involvement with mental health issues dates back to the mid 19th century.
St. Elizabeths Hospital, which opened in 1855, was the first national mental hospital in the United States. At the time, not much was known about what caused mental illness. In 1884, Isaac W. Blackburn, a pathologist, was appointed the task of researching the pathology of mental illness.
The early mission of the hospital was to "provide the most humane care and enlightened curative treatment of the insane of the Army, Navy, and District of Columbia." By the 1940s, it covered over 300 acres and provided treatment to 7,000 patients, the "first and only federal mental hospital with a national scope."
Treatments at the hospital included art therapy and hydrotherapy, one of the innovations of St. Elizabeths. Therapies such as "moral treatment" (the use of homelike surroundings to illustrate healthy behavior) were also used.
Today, the original building is a designated National Historic Landmark.