Inside the ‘House of the Mad’: the Social Context of Mental Illness, Suicide and the Pressures of Rural Life in South West Wales c.1860-1920

Davies discusses asylums to show the dark aspects of life in South West Wales in the 19th and 20th centuries. Asylums during this time had very low recovery rates. Compounded with taxpayer frustration over funding, living conditions became even worse. Asylums were viewed as detention centers. Conditions (including torture) are described. Urbanization was blamed for the increase of mental illness & suicide. However, Davies suggests the harshness of rural living was also responsible. (93 refs.)