Year: 2009 Source: Health & History, v.11, no.1, (2009), p.102-127 SIEC No: 20090840

This paper examines the practice of institutional & community psychiatry in early twentieth-century Queensland. Several conclusions are reached. First, asylums responded to the diversity of illnesses by making case-based judgments about the duration of treatment & the possibility of paroles. Many suicidal patients were not locked up for long periods if their ailments showed promise of alleviation. Second, it is suggested that in the interwar period, private practice was vibrant & worked interactively with traditional asylum committal. Third, even in rural areas there was awareness by the 1930s of urban-based alternatives to the asylums. Finally, there is evidence of attentive families who pursued several avenues of care for loved ones. (97 notes.)