LUNATIC ASYLUMS.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1289, 15 July 1886, Page 3

LUNATIC ASYLUMS.

[From the Mail.]

Pkrhaps no section of the community excites more general commiseration than the unfortunates confined in the lunatic asylums of the colony, and any particulars as to their treatment and circumstances are sure to command the Sympathetic interest of a large majority of their more happily situated fellowcolonists. A precis of the Inspector’s annual report upon the asylums was published in our columns some week' ago, but some of Dr Grabham’s observations and recommendations are entitled to fuller publicity than we have yet been able to give them. Turning first to the concluding part of the report it is gratifying to learn that the Inspector is able to record that very great improvements have been effected in the accommodation for the insane, as well as in their surroundings and treatment, during the past four or five years. It is, however, apparent that very much remains to be done, and as lunacy must necessarily increase pro raia with the increase of population, the public expenditure in this direction must annually become greater. At the end of. the year .ii.ru were 7452 persons of unsound mind detained in the various asylums. On December 31, 1885, the total had risen to 1523, an increase of 71 insane persons under care and treatment. Compared with the three preceding years, and having regard to the annual increase of the general population, these figures are satisfactory. In 1882 the increase was 106; in 1883, 93; in 1084, 77. Thus, whereas at the end of 1884 we had 1 lunatic to every 390 persons, the proportion had diminished at the close of last year to 1 in 401 of the population. In England and Wales the ratio for the year 1885 was 1 in 339. During the year 1885, 391 new cases were admitted to the asylums and 63 former patients were re-admitted; 171 were discharged as recovered, 15 as relieved, 102 as not improved, and 95 died. As the transfers from one asylum to another are returned as discharges and admissions, respectively, these figures do not precisely bear out the totals we have already quoted, but the net result is the same. Intemperance is given as the cause of insanity in 45 of the 454 admissions, but as the cause is not assigned in 195 cases, and Dr Grabham looks upon 'drunkenness

as a result rather than a factor o mental disease, this return is of little practical import. Hereditary predi=; position and previous attacks account for 55 of the admissions, mental anxiety for 13, religion for 14, climacteric causes for 18, and love (alas ! romance) for only 5. The number of recoveries reported during the year, 171, is encouraging, and reflects considerable credit upon the system and its administration, but an analysis of these cases show that the unfor tunates restored to sanity were nearly all suffering from the milder forms of

the terrible malady; 137 had been 1 confined for less than ra months; 16 from 1 to a years, and the remaining 18 from ato 15 years. General paralysis, with 1 a victims, appears to have been the most fruitful cause of death, and phthisis and brain disease, with 9 and 8 victims respectively, the next. The following are the nationalities of the

inmates:—English, 543; Irish, 437 ; Scotch, 256 ; New Zealand born, 95 ; Germans, 33; Chinese, 30 : Maoris, 20; other nationalities, 119. There are 981 males and 542 females under restraint. Of the admissions during the year 294 were males, 178 of whom

were single, 89 married, 17 widowers, and io whose domestic condition was unknown. Of the 160 females admitted during the year 59 were single, 79 married, and 32 widows. These figures show, subject of course to other considerations, that matrimony conduces towards mental serenity in men, and quite the reverse in women. It is significant, however, and perfectly in accord with medical testimony, that much the larger proportion of recoveries occur among married women. Some forms of

! insanity do not appear to be opposed to longevity. There are 466 patients between 40 and 50 years of age, 341 between 50 and 60, 81 betwein 60 and 70, 19 between 70 and 80, and 5 between So and 90. The gross expen-

diture in connection with asylums out of the public funds during the year was ,£43,486 14s 3d, against which repayments amounting to £5075 i 8«

9d were received, leaving a net expenditure of £38,410 15s 6d. On

;he whole, the report is a| satisfactory

one, carefully arranged and admirably expressed, and although increased

accommodation is urgently required in

nearly all the institutions, we are satis.

fied that the colony is doing its utmost

to ameliorate the condition of the unfortunate inmates.