Book Review: Ten Days in a Mad-House by Nellie Bly- Aug 2017

I was on Facebook browsing through my feed when I saw an article titled, "Reporter was locked in mental hospital for 10 days, when her true identity was revealed, the doctors were shocked". The title plus two old pictures drew me in and I thought, "Probably click bait, but here goes nothing." I was intrigued by the article Here's the link: 

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I was even more interested that there was a book out there written about this experience. I got on Amazon and there it was--Ten Days in a Mad-House by Nellie Bly.

The kindle version was only 66 pages, so it's a short read for only $0.99. There is a paperback version for just over $4 and it's 96 pages in length.

 

Here are my thoughts:

Nellie (a pen name for journalist Elizabeth Jane Cochrane) was insanely courageous to feign insanity and sneak her way through the system into a mad-house made famous for its rumored ill-treatment of patients. Mental care has come far since Nellie's experiment in the late 1800's, and much of it is due to her exposing the malpractices of the doctors and nurses staffed at the hospital on Blackwell's Island. There isn't much I can say here that wouldn't spoil the book due to its short length and to-the-point writing, so I will just leave it at this:

This book broke my heart. The women were treated far worse than animals. I feel guilty sleeping with a plush blanket, eating decent food, and being surrounded by family after reading the accounts of the women Nellie encountered during her stay. The scripture that says, "nothing is new under the sun," is accurate as ever and applies here. Though healthcare for the mentally ill has improved, the hearts of hateful, calloused people just seem to regenerate every generation. We hear of malpractices, people mistreating the elderly or other patients who cannot defend themselves, and think, "What is this world coming to?" The world has always been and always will be full of wretched, awful people. The staff at Blackwell's Island (aside from a handful of decent beings) were a group of the most inhumane humans I've ever read about. I shudder to think that there were surely many cases like this that never had their moment of exposure.

The patients who were sane were barely hanging to their sanity by threads after enduring the treatment of the staff. I wonder how many family members admitted their loved ones to such a place thinking they would be getting the treatment they needed. There are many stories of people admitting cheating wives, or wives they were tired of and so accused of adultery, hot-tempered women, poor women that society no longer wished to offer charity, etc. They are all victims here who never received justice in this life.

Though short, this is in no way light reading. It is easy to read and hard to swallow. As far as content is concerned...

Language: There is only one mention of a minor curse word, which Nellie does not fully spell out. Hateful names and insults are hurled, but nothing profane.

Sex: None. There is only mention of a woman who was unfaithful, and the taunts the nurses hurl at her during her stay.

Violence: There's a good bit of violent content. The accounts of these women were pitifully sad and their treatment was extremely abusive.

Religion: There are short mentions of patients praying, and one patient speaking of the devil. There's mention of there being church services available, but other than that there is no religious mention. It was written in a way that I would think wouldn't offend persons of any faith, or lack thereof.

My rating: 5 stars