Today, 10th
October 2019, is World Mental Health Day. This year’s theme is suicide
prevention, and the message is that of hope. Through this post I shall reflect
on how suicide was regarded in the later nineteenth century in a bid to reflect
on what has changed, and maybe what has not changed so much.
In an
earlier post I detailed how suicides were reported when they occurred in the
asylum, this time I focus on how they were reported in the local press. An apt
starting point is an article published in the Penrith Observer in June 1894 entitled ‘The Prevention of Suicide’.
It placed great importance on a lack of faith: ‘the decay of religious faith coincides with an increase of suicides’.
It suggested that doctors would do well to advise religion medically and that:
‘Religion is undoubtedly of use to
unhappy persons; therefore let all the unhappy by all means seek its
consolations and its staying powers.’ This differs somewhat to the contemporary
treatment of an individual with suicidal thoughts, and demonstrates the
prominence of religion and morality in Victorian society.
An earlier article
from the Wigton Advertiser dated September
1860, detailed a paper published by Dr Conolly, the celebrated asylum
superintendent from Hanwell. Titled, ‘Prevention of Suicide Among Lunatics’, Conolly
stated that: ‘means for the prevention of
suicide, save incessant watching, there seem to be none.’ He went on to
describe the hidden impulses of those harboring suicidal thoughts, and that it
is impossible to predict that they may harm themselves: ‘A lady, who seemed on the preceding evening quite cheerful, and even
to awake in the morning reconciled to life, and restored to hope, is left alone
for what seemed to have only been five minutes, and is found suspended by the
bed curtains.’ Conolly was one of the early advocates of the ‘non-restraint’
movement, which encouraged the abandonment of straitjackets and other
implements, and only resorted to them when all else had failed and patients
posed a risk to themselves or others. He touches on non-restraint and its
impact on suicide in this paper: ‘It is
scarcely necessary to say that since the abolition of mechanical restraints
suicides have not been of more frequent occurrence than before…I believe it may
safely be said that they have even become less frequent in proportion to the
increased viligance necessarily substituted for restraints and to the greatly
increased attention given to the general comfort of the insane in all our great
institutions.’
Instances of
suicide would frequently be reported in the local and national press. Although
this seems somewhat intrusive and an invasion of privacy, until 1961 suicide
was illegal, which still protrudes somewhat into today as the phrase ‘commit
suicide’ has criminal connotations. This may help to explain why suicide was
reported in newspapers in such detail, and quite frequently. This is an example
from the Penrith Observer in March
1874, which can be upsetting and quite shocking for us reading in the
modern-day:
SUICIDE
AT GREAT STRICKLAND
On
Saturday last a very painful case of suicide occurred at the village of Great
Strickland, Westmorland. On that day the dead body of Mr John Parker, mason and
farmer, an old and respected resident in the village, was found suspended by
the neck from a cross-beam supporting the roof of his barn. Deceased, who was
an elderly man, left his family after dinner, but nothing in his manner tended
in any way to indicate that he contemplated suicide, and it was not until
between two and three o’clock that he was missed by his relatives. A search was
then made, and the body of the deceased was found as described above. The
deceased was usually a cheerful and intelligent man, and up to the present time
nothing has been elicited to account for the rash act.
Cases where
suicide had not resulted in death would be the subject of inquiry and would
result either in the individual being sent to prison, or they would be judged
to have been insane at the time of the act and would be admitted to an asylum. One
example was reported in February 1897 in the Maryport Advertiser:
A
VIOLENT LUNATIC AT COCKERMOUTH
ATTEMPTED
SUICIDE
Yesterday
(Friday) a potter named Edward Keenan, 27 years of age, who lives with his
father and several brothers…made an attempt to cut his throat with a table
knife, but fortunately only succeeded in inflicting a slight scratch. The man
was very violent, and Sergeant McKay and Constable Dodd were called in to hold
him down, and it was necessary to have the assistance of a third man. Dr Mitchell
was sent for, and after examination he ordered Keenan’s removal to Garlands
Asylum. On the way to Carlisle the man continued to be very violent.
It is
evident that the way in which suicide is regarded has altered since these
newspaper reports were published. However, it has been on the increase in
recent years. The more we can encourage people to talk about their feelings,
and offer safe spaces to listen, the more chance we have of looking out for
each other. In line with World Mental Health day, it is important to highlight
that mental illness can occur to any of us, at any time. Reflecting on stories
such as the one’s presented here reasserts the importance of talking about our
feelings, and helping each other when we may be particularly struggling. For
more information about World Mental Health Day 2019 see https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/campaigns/world-mental-health-day
