Norway: water and class in nineteenth-century psychiatry

Journal/Book: Hist Psychiat. 1997; 8: Halfpenny Furze-Mill Lane, Chalfont St Giles, Bucks, United Kingdom HP8 4NR. Alpha Academic. 231-242.

Abstract: Water has long been considered an effective means of therapy for mental disorders. Its use, however, was divided along class lines during the nineteenth century. After presenting a brief background of the general conditions of the insane in Norway around the mid-nineteenth century when modern psychiatry entered the scene, I will present some examples of developments in hydrotherapy -fashionable bath resorts for the rich, and the use of prolonged baths as coercive treatment for asylum paupers.

Note: Article Blomberg W, Univ Oslo, Dept Criminol, PB 6872, St Olavs Plass, N-0130 Oslo, NORWAY

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