Overview
Not too long ago when people were labeled as “mad” they were considered no longer suitable for society. The French philosopher Foucault wrote in his book History of Madness that anyone who steps off the accepted path is condemned and is subjected to physical expulsion from normal life.
Essondale Hospital interior recreation lounge C5-S01-SS02-EH.009
Societies rejection of so-called “mad” people frequently came with a moral condemnation as well. The state of people’s mental health was also linked to population control and the concept of working or being a productive member of society. The move from an agricultural society to an industrialized society demanded a large pool of workers. With increased urbanization, and a frequently impoverished working-class; governments felt an increased need to control their populations. Industrialized work demands strict time routines and requires a dedicated work ethic. Unruly non-conforming behaviour can be seen as a threat to the social order. Workhouses and asylums became places for people deviating from the supposed standard or norm.
Over many years women’s health has and continues to be mostly neglected because the male body is seen as the standard. Hysteria was commonly diagnosed in women. Interestingly enough the word Hysteria stems from Hippocrates a Greek word from the 5th century BC meaning the disease as located in the uterus (Greek hysteron).
The United Nations Population Fund mentions that as late as 1950 female genital mutilation (clitoridectomy) was practiced in Western Europe and the United States to treat perceived ailments including hysteria, epilepsy, mental disorders, masturbation, nymphomania and melancholia.
Today society has developed a more nuanced and kinder view on mental health. Currently, ideas are more centred on integration and moving away from an arbitrarily supposed standard.
Institutions like Riverview and others are a reflection of societies’ changing attitudes on how people with mental illness were treated or what was regarded as an illness. Institutions and how they treat patients reflect problematic attitudes like eugenics and scientific understanding of mental health. What happened in Riverview, the treatment of patients is an expression of society’s wider of mental health.
Essondale interior laboratory C5-S01-SS02-EH.012
The Coquitlam Heritage Society has given artists the chance to look at artifacts from the Riverview hospital, to explore themes of mental health and institutionalization.