The Story First undertaken in 1935 by Portuguese neuropsychiatrist Dr. Antonio Egas Moniz, leucotomy involves the removal of brain tissue from the pre-frontal lobe in order to treat psychoses. His initial approach was improved upon with the use of a leucotome, invented by Canadian neurosurgeon Dr. Kenneth G. McKenzie in the 1940s. The leucotome is … More Leucotome (From the Collection #15)
More so than practically any other healthcare subject, mental health topics have acquired a need in recent decades for routine updating and research to compensate for centuries of misinformation. The infiltration of the Maternal Mental Hygiene movement and Attachment Theory into the minds and maternity manuals of Canada can shed light onto the progression of the treatment of maternal mental health across the decades. … More Maternal Mental Health Care
Nurses were expected to be proficient in both mental health and physical nursing, as well as to be knowledgeable of the various mental illnesses and how they may appear. For the majority of the nineteenth century, trained nurses did not work at hospitals or asylums. The members of staff who interacted frequently with the patients … More The Introduction of Psychiatric Nursing: The Rockwood Training School for Nurses
Organized sports and bicycling were also popular. These activities were believed to assist recovery, as they broke up the monotony of asylum life. In the late nineteenth century, Rockwood Asylum underwent a drastic change in treatment philosophies. Begun under the guidance of the third Superintendent Dr. William Metcalf, and continued by Dr. Charles Kirk Clarke, … More Moral Treatment: A New Therapeutic Model
Clarke strongly believed in “moral treatment”, an approach to mental health based on humane treatment as well as scheduled days in a calm environment. August 13, 1885. Dr. William Metcalf, medical superintendent of Rockwood Asylum and his assistant, Dr. Charles Kirk Clarke, are making their usual morning rounds of the institution. They approach one of … More Moral Treatment and Nursing School: The Impact of Dr. Charles Kirk Clarke at Rockwood Asylum.
In July of 1856 thirty-six acres of an estate west of Portsmouth Village, previously owned by politician John Cartwright, were purchased by the United Province of Canada East and Canada West. The intended purpose of the land? To become the home of a future asylum, intended to house both the “criminally insane” of Kington Penitentiary … More Curative Architecture: The Healthful Design of Rockwood Asylum
What seems to be the next epidemic though is dangerously invisible in its symptoms, but just as potent in its hold; it is one of the leading causes of death among Canadian youth from ages 15-24, and directly affects 20% of all Canadians. … More Mental Health: Tracing the History of Stigma
The purpose of Canada’s first National Mental Health Strategy, according to the Mental Health Commission of Canada’s newsletter, is “to help improve mental health and well-being for all people living in Canada and to create a mental health system that can truly meet the needs of people of all ages living with mental health problems and illnesses and their families.” … More Canada’s First National Mental Health Program, by Linda
Friendly Fire is a project developed by the Agnes Etherington Art Centre in collaboration with the Museum of Health Care engaging the power of the artist as a story teller and synthesizer. The artist, Howie Tsui investigated health and medicine during the war of 1812. The resulting exhibition illuminates the brutal conditions of the body in war and the medical techniques of the period. … More Reflections on Friendly Fire
