On Some Relations between Intemperance and Insanity
Head before the Medico-Psyetiological Association, January 31, 1877. :Author: Joiin Charles Bucknill, M.D., F.R.S., &c.
The first of these publications is a reprint of papers published in the Lancet by Dr Bucknill, much to the annoyance of our medical brethren on the other side of the Atlantic; and we must allow that they have some reason for their chagrin. The bone of contention is the use of mechanical restraint in the treatment of lunatics. Dr Bucknill says : ” I have been able to come to no other conclusion than that the great stumbling-block of the American superintendents is their most unfortunate and un- happy resistance to the abolition of mechanical restraint.” However, it is not only in America, but also in England and on the Continent, that there are alienists of the highest au- thority who, under particular circumstances, consider mechanical restraint less likely to excite a patient to resistance than the frequent interference of an attendant.
We turn with more pleasure to Dr Bucknill’s address, delivered before the Medico-Psychological Association last January. His remarks on the drink-etiology of insanity are sound and practical. He says : ” The cases which have been directly caused by strong drink alone should be separated from those in which alcohol has only acted the part of an ally with other enemies of mental health; for it is very certain that in many cases in which intemperance has aided in this warfare, its share of influence has been by no means the greatest: hereditary predisposition, mental overstrain, worry, and an array of com- bining causes having had by far the greatest power in bringing about the common result.”
Further on he makes some judicious observations on the use, as opposed to the abuse, of alcohol. ” Consider the great part which grief and anxiety, worry, and overstrain play in the production of insanity; the depressing effects of poverty and the failing struggle for existence; of misery in all its forms; and then consider to how great an extent the use of alcohol often- times tends to make the burthen of life bearable?if not by stimulating the powers, by deadening the sensibilities of men ; and I think you will agree with me that, by the occasional help of strong drink, a man may sometimes be able to weather that point of wretchedness upon which his sanity would otherwise have been wrecked.”
The whole of the address is worthy of a careful perusal.
Disclaimer
The historical material in this project falls into one of three categories for clearances and permissions:
Material currently under copyright, made available with a Creative Commons license chosen by the publisher.
Material that is in the public domain
Material identified by the Welcome Trust as an Orphan Work, made available with a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
While we are in the process of adding metadata to the articles, please check the article at its original source for specific copyrights.