7th August 1903
Patient still delusional "imagines a child is in bed with her and talks to it" Very homicidal (??) She eats & sleeps well & at present does polishing in the wards
Thanks for your help. I know she had an illegitimate child and soon found herself admitted to the asylum a year or two after.
In the notes it also states "Patient is subject to occasional accountable desires to draw blood. She suddenly says Blood I want blood i'll have"
Poor lady may have had a poorly diagnosed case of postpartum psychosis. The stress of illegitimacy would have had an excacerbating effect I would think.
'Postpartum psychosis is a serious mental illness that can occur after childbirth. It's a psychiatric emergency that requires immediate medical attention.
Symptoms
Hallucinations
Delusions
Manic mood
Depressive mood
Confusion
Disorganized thinking
Extreme mood swings
Inappropriate behavior
Catatonia (stopping speaking)
and here from the Royal College of physicians
http://www.rootschat.com/links/01toh/
Thank you for that info. Her case notes do make for difficult reading. Sadly her sister was also admitted to the asylum, although she was married and had a child. The woman who the notes above apply to died in her 40s in an asylum, her sister lived until her late 80s and spent 60 years as a patient. The illegitimate child also entered the asylum in his 20s.
A common theme through the case notes of both sisters is that they are described as “coming from a bad lot” “strong taint of insanity in the family”. They didn’t have a typical conventional upbringing for the time. Their grandfather was a poet (which was also picked out in their case notes), and their father was a famous music hall star of the Victorian age who it seems from census records was hardly at home as he traveled all over the country. One of the brothers also died young from “hard living” also a musician and vocalist. In the case notes relating to my relative above there was a picture of her which is just so wonderful to have.
