Two Years and Four Months in a Lunatic Asylum: From August 20th, 1863, to December 20th, 1865

by Hiram Chase

Excerpt from Two Years and Four Months in a Lunatic From August 20th, 1863, to December 20th, 1865

Another reason which has deterred me from giving to the world the history of those two years, is the fact, that a number of inmates of lunatic 'asylums in this country have given to the public their views of asylum life, and one especially, who was in the asylum at Utica, and discharged just before I entered it. I could not help noticing the effect these productions produced on society. In many instances the history was read only to laugh, and pity the insanity of the writer. This case referred to, was a lady from Syracuse.

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190 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1868

Reviews

[Lwood · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting perspective. I read this a week after reading Nellie Bly's "Ten Days in a Madhouse" c.1887. I was surprised to notice that H. Chase had postponed his book for three years because there were other books on the same subject being published and twenty years later Nellie Bly was in an asylum and things had not changed but seemed worse. His full title was Reverend Hiram Chase. He was a reverend before he went in and after he came out. For that time in history, I would have thought his views would have been revered.
I felt both books lacked detail. Many of the comment could have been more persuasive had they not been vague. Other than that the book was engaging. Started and finished it in one sitting.

[Diana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lack of detail, but interesting to follow.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The major problem is exactly who committed him for what. At one point he admits it is his wife but never follows up on this.
Other than that, well done.

[Kelli Santistevan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I listened to this on LibriVox and it was sad what happened to the author but it was interesting to learn about what he experienced while he was there.