Psychiatry for the Rich

Book excerpt: The madhouse often figures prominently in popular conceptions of the nineteenth century, yet little is known about the realities of private institutions. In Psychiatry for the Rich, Charlotte MacKenzie examines the history of the asylum at Ticehurst in Sussex to explore the social history of madness and the impact of politics and popular opinion. She details the backgrounds of the patients, their own descriptions of the asylum as well as changes in the institution through the lunacy reforms and developments in medical theory. Challenging many of the accepted views of the Victorian asylum, Money, Medicine and Madness is the most revealing account of the trade in lunacy in the nineteenth century.