Haunting Portaits Of Patiens Of Assylum, 1855
Portraits taken by Dr. Hugh Welch Diamond of patients from Surrey County Asylum in England where he worked as a psychiatrist. Diamond was an advocate of the pseudo-science of physiognomy, in which the face was believed to be the mirror of the soul. He believed that through studying the faces of patients, physicians could identify and diagnose mental illnesses. The faces of the patients were seen to represent ‘types’ of mental illness such as melancholia and delusional paranoia.
Let’s not forget that in the 19th century it didn’t take much to lock someone in the mental facility. Reasons were actually really trivial. Also, please notice there are only women on below pictures. And what’s the reason for that? Patriarchal society, poor understanding of women’s psyche and hormones? I bet that’s it.
