The document discusses the history of psychiatric institutions and treatments in Australia, including:
- Mesmer magnet therapy, lobotomies, electroshock therapy, and lithium treatment that were used historically.
- Australia's first asylum opened in 1811 and most opened in the late 19th/early 20th century, with only a handful remaining today due to a shift to community-based care and medication.
- The play Cosi uses the setting of a burnt-out theatre attached to a 1970s Melbourne institution as a metaphor for the isolation and stigma faced by patients, as well as the declining view of institutions at that time.
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Cosi - Mental Asylums Through Time
1. THE HISTORY AND CURRENT
STATUS OF PSYCHIATRIC
INSTITUTIONS AND THEIR
ROLE IN COSI
2. MESMER MAGNET
Mesmer Magnet therapy was
created by Franz Mesmer, who
believed that the distortion of an
invisible force round the body was
responsible for all suffering, and this
that could be countered and cured
by placing magnets on a patient’s
body. Although the practice
produced patients that responded
positively to the treatment, this was
put down to a placebo effect, and
so, the word ‘mesmerized’ comes
from Franz Mesmer's name, as if to
be hypnotized and fooled.
3. LOBOTOMIES
A lobotomy is the separation or the
removal of connections between the
frontal lobes and the prefrontal
cortex. It was done by inserting
tools into the corner of a patient’s
eye socket, and into their brain. This
was used to cure a wide range of
conditions considered to be mental
disorders. Lobotomies were a very
popular treatment option for the
mentally between the 40s and 60s.
They are still used today in very rare
cases. They effectively render
patients to be zombies, unable to
interact or comprehend the world
4. ELECTROSHOCK THERAPY
Electroshock Therapy was a
technique used to treat patients
with schizophrenia and severe
depression as well as catatonia
and mania occasionally.
Catatonia is a coma like state
where an individual is
unresponsive to the world
around them and mania is
abnormal levels of behaviour, in
an opposite way to depression.
The aim of Electroshock Therapy
is used to induce seizures and a
therapeutic treatment.
5. LITHIUM
Lithium, like the stuff in batteries
was and still is used today as a
method from treating patients
with the mood disorder of bi-
polar. This would mean that it
treats people who range
between really depressive
states, and really manic states.
Lithium would be described as a
mood stabiliser. The main effect
of Lithium is that it calms a
patient, although patients can
develop a tolerance and reliance
on it, and so it can become
6. AUSTRALIA’S MENTAL
ASYLUMSFirst Asylum – Castle Hill
Lunatic Asylum – 1811 –
1826, Castle Hill, NSW
Most of Australia's
Asylums opened in
the mid-late 19th
Century or early 20th
Century. Today there
are only a handful of
Asylums in Australia,
because of the more
widespread reliance
on therapy and
psychoactive drugs
Ararat Asylum –
1865 – 1993, Ararat,
VIC
Callan Park Hospital
for the Insane –
1885 – 2008,
Lilyfield NSW
Kew Asylum – 1871
– 1988, Kew,
Melbourne, VIC
7. THE ROLE OF THE SETTING OF
COSI: AS A METAPHOR
The physical location of the play is in a “burnt out theatre” attached to an institution in
Melbourne in 1970 . It is in a state of disrepair: it smelt of “burnt wood and mold” and
has “a bit of a hole” in the roof and electrical problems with the fuse box. Its condition
can represent the attitude of the time towards the mentally ill – that they’re almost
ignored and at the end, the theatre being irreparable shows how many of the patients do
not have happy endings.
The theatre also is a symbol of isolation and ignorance, particularly about the outside
world and politics. “You’re always the last to know things in an asylum.” – Cherry. It
is a physical barrier between the patients and reality – C ward prohibits them from being
allowed outside.
The reluctance of the characters to return to their ward (“I prefer this to a ward” –
Julie) and the characterisation of it by Zac with his model having “stark white walls”
also reiterates the solemness and clinical aspect of the setting. However, “Asylums are
the most inefficient places on earth” – Roy shows how it does not operate well.
Also, the theatre creates a backdrop for Lewis’ journey – they lighting provided
represents the journey of the characters. The “pitch blackness” at the start shows how
8. ATTITUDES TOWARDS THE
ASYLUM• Justin – so while he thinks that the patients are just “normal people who have
done extraordinary things, thought extraordinary thoughts”, he also refers to
the theatre as “grungy” – so he doesn’t really understand the magnitude of their
madness.
• Nick – he’s very derisive and negative towards the patients who are “definitely
mad”. He refers to the asylum as a funny farm: “They’re coming to take me
away, ha, ha, to the funny farm.” Him and Lucy represent the stigma and
ignorance in society about mental illness at the time.
• Society – attitudes towards the mentally ill in the 1960’s and 1970’s were
predominately negative: “the topics of mental health were of limited concern
to the public – it was a topic most often treated as a private family matter
that was more or less off limits to outsiders except medical professionals.”
– From Public Attitudes Toward Persons with Mental Illness by Andrew B.
Borinstein.
9. CURRENT STATUSIn Australia, there are few psychiatric institutions left as they started to
decrease in popularity post 1970, most being dismantled in the 80’s and
late 90’s:
These institutions have been mostly replaced by inpatient services in
hospitals. Mental health services in Australia include welfare service
system and health care. However, the stigma, discrimination and
isolation experienced by some in these programs is ongoing.
Current mental institutionsinAustralia
0
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ACT VIC NSW QLD NT SA TAS WA
State
Numberoperational
