Young Writers Society

hi there, i'm having some difficulty with research and i would really love some help. so I'm writing a novel about bipolar disorder in the 1800s. i have some questions,

I know that bipolar disorder was discovered as we know it now in 1850, but before that time how was it viewed?
My character who suffers from bipolar disorder is wealthy, would it be unreasonable for her to end up in a madhouse?
What were conditions like in a madhouse in the 1800s, were they known to be cruel?
In the book it is her husband who sends my character away to the madhouse, he is extremely proud, what would happen to his reputation if his wife were sent to a madhouse?
Is bipolar disorder hereditary?
are there periods of normal behavior between manic episodes, if so could someone realistically know there was something wrong with them?
At what age do symptoms of bipolar disorder start?
What was the average persons understanding of mental illness in the 1800s?
what terms would be used to describe someone with bipolar disorder in the 1800s?

as you can see i have a lot of questions, i would really appreciate if anyone could help me out with any of these questions,
thank you

It would greatly help if you could give us an exact period in the 1800s, as that does change a few things. I'll keep my answers pretty broad because of it.

Also, all information is given with the assumption this is set in England or the US (Biased towards England or the North Eastern US).

First things first, know the following:

1- Women were treated as second class citizens in the 1800s, pretty much across the whole time period. Do a check for what a woman's rights were in the area/time period you're looking at for an understanding.

2- Medical knowledge was pretty barbaric by our standards. Mental illnesses were far worse in the knowledge field. They believed in this little thing called female hysteria that has long since been disproved. (Basically, it was when a woman acted outside the norm.)

3- Religion still held a huge influence in people's lives. Things were still considered God's or the Devil's work, and Church swearing (ie- relating to Hell, damnation, and using the Lord's name in vain) was some of the worst things you could do.

So a rough answer to your questions, taken on mostly a sociocultural understanding of the time (and I'm skipping out the questions about bipolar disorder proper, because I don't know enough about it!):

I know that bipolar disorder was discovered as we know it now in 1850, but before that time how was it viewed?

Probably very poorly, especially in women. There wasn't really an understanding of what caused any sort of mood fluctuations, and depression/high spirits were both discouraged in the very emotionally button down society.

My character who suffers from bipolar disorder is wealthy, would it be unreasonable for her to end up in a madhouse?

Hardly. I've heard stories of women being locked in the attic (either literally or figuratively) for postpartum depression, let alone something as serious/misunderstood as bipolar. They could simply be locked in a room of the house, though. If it wasn't deemed treatable/people thought there wasn't any hope.

There is also the possibility that, if the religious stars lined up right, they'd consider her possessed and call for having her exorcised. (exorcism is mostly Catholic, though.) It is still possible that when an exorcism failed they'd send her to the madhouse anyway. Possibly just kill her.

What were conditions like in a madhouse in the 1800s, were they known to be cruel?

Possibly. From what I've heard, though, it's more like they were utterly clueless. The treatments were... bizarre, to say the least (none off the top of my head, unfortunately. I have heard opening up the skull and poking directly at the brain wasn't completely uncommon).

In the book it is her husband who sends my character away to the madhouse, he is extremely proud, what would happen to his reputation if his wife were sent to a madhouse?

Probably not that badly affected at all. He's more likely to get sympathy his wife didn't work out for him than any sort of comment he's cruel. Whether or not he remarries depends on if he's Catholic or Protestant, and if he has an heir or not.

What was the average persons understanding of mental illness in the 1800s?

Like I said before, even a doctor's understanding of mental illness would be dismal. The treatments would be pretty far fetched and people would likely label all mental illnesses under either "insane", "hysteric" or "possessed".

what terms would be used to describe someone with bipolar disorder in the 1800s?

They'd be lucky to even have it named anything other than insanity, hysteria and/or possession. Especially if it was pre-discovery of bipolar.

-

Some places that might help your research:

History of Psychiatric Institutions, the 19th century
Little_Details, a livejournal community dedicated to everything weird. Tags include Medicine, Misc, Medicine, Illness, Misc, and Medicine, Historical.
Separating these tags from Livejournal as they have a bit more relevance:
Psychology and Psychiatry Institutions
Psychology and Psychiatry, Historical
Psychology and Psychiatry, Misc

For the bipolar part of it, I'd suggest looking up all the modern research on the topic. Since mental illness has really only been studied in depth recently, your best bet is general googling of topics such as "bipolar disorder".

Hopefully this helps.

~Rosey

Thankyou just what i needed!