Open Perspectives: Conveying the Nuance of Asylums

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The subject of asylums has always had a particular hook on our collective psyches. Yet, the portrayal of these institutions compels us to rethink our ingrained biases and have open perspectives.

How asylums have been depicted in literature, cinema, and other forms of media has a long history. It is a history that is dreadfully fraught with extremely negative stereotypes and often destructive sensationalism. The continuation of this without significant pushback perpetuates misconceptions that make the jobs of professionals much harder. And, in extreme cases, dangerous.

Conveying Asylums Properly and Respectfully

Given the dark history of asylums—it is important not to forget that there was rampant abuse and neglect. There were also other forms of inhumane treatment that occurred. It is even more imperative to depict them with the proper sensitivity and respect that they deserve.

As such, we here call for the exploration and experimentation of better, more accurate representations of asylum history. It is good to acknowledge the horrors and the pain they incurred. But it is even more important to never forget the lives of those who lived through it.

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Open Perspectives: The Historical Context

To begin with, it is critical that people attempting to incorporate asylums in any of their work be respectful. They should be aware that these institutions and their abuses did not come out of whole cloth. They were conclusions of age-old biases and obsolete thinking of the time. While it is incomprehensible today to imagine asylums as they did years ago, there was a vision for it. Although it was extremely misguided.

You see, asylums were initially conceived of as places where individuals whose mental health had declined considerably to find refuge and treatment. This is a utopic and wonderful vision. Sadly, over time, as discrimination and biases festered, coupled with overcrowding and underfunding, neglect and abuse became depressingly commonplace.

The bleak conglomeration of these factors naturally leads to the isolation and dehumanization of those very people that these institutions were established to care for.

Open Perspectives: A More Nuanced Portrayal

With that in mind, let us talk about ways to actually give a more nuanced and more accurate portrayal.

One of the most enduring harms that pop culture offers regarding asylums is its perpetuation of dangerous stereotypes. While some asylums were indeed known for their violent and unpredictable tendencies and histories, painting all asylums with a broad brush is regressive. Critiquing its dark history is important and to obfuscate the inhumane treatment that some suffered would be equally harmful. But it should always be done with the acknowledgment that mental health institutions today are a far cry from what they were in the past.

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The cornerstone of any portrayal of an asylum, fictional or otherwise, should always be that of the dignity of the people within it. From doctor to patient, but most especially from the patients, those who suffered the most. What this means is to avoid sensationalizing the horrors that were meted out on the daily and the reduction of human beings as mere tropes.

On the other hand, it is important also to avoid focusing too much on individual narratives. Asylums were not spoiled and rotten because of the specific individuals that made them run. But because of the systems that were put in place that seemed to forget the humanity of their patients.

And lastly—and this should never be forgotten—always seek advice from experts. Through their help, you may be allowed into a network of researchers and survivors with which you can have more accurate conversations.

Examples of Nuance in Portrayals

While the vast majority of portrayals of asylums are inaccurate at best and horrifically harmful at worst, there are actually good media that one can learn from:

• Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar is a novel that is part autobiography and part fictional. It is a compelling firsthand account of the author’s own experiences with being inside an asylum as a patient and as a woman.
• The film Girl, Interrupted explores the diverse experiences of young women who were taken into the asylum system during the 1960s.
• Asylum Scandals by Patricia Lubeck is a non-fiction novel that extensively documents the many inhumane treatments that occured within a number of Minnesota’s State Hospitals. You can grab a copy of the book through this link here.