Sons and parents

[Houmes]

(01-14-2015 12:55 PM)Eva Elisabeth Wrote:  However, she managed to get out of the asylum within the shortest period of time and thenceforth dealt with life and circumstances in a way that neither threatened to harm her nor others. She was well able to care for herself and her finances, even alone in Europe. Isn't this amazing? Maybe she was just someone who needed a task or challenge, in this case getting herself out of the asylum and out of the danger this could ever happen again. (Legally - could it?)

I once again try this question - what do you imagine would have happened to her if she hadn't been so lucky to get herself out of Bellevue? Dr. Patterson, if I remember correctly, advocated long-term treatment over several years and considered any short "therapy" effectless.

Mary Lincoln's emotional health has been debated for years. Tagging her with a psychiatric diagnosis involves speculation, but at times she definitely suffered from anxiety, depression, delusions, and paranoia. She wrote frequent letters to her doctor, asking for chloral hydrate to battle insomnia. She basically tested Robert Todd Lincoln's patience, and the committal was the final step in trying to find a way to help her. Bellevue Place was a private sanitarium, owned and operated by Dr. Patterson, which raises suspicion about his having a vested interested in keeping her there for an extended period. But she wasn't the average patient. Robert visited her every week, taking the train out from Chicago. He arranged for her to have not one but two private rooms to herself, with brand new expensive furniture. She had a personal attendant and enjoyed quite a bit of freedom. She took meals with Dr. Patterson and his family, and took frequent buggy rides in the surrounding area, visiting friends in nearby St. Charles. She also cleverly engaged friends to campaign for her early release, and garnered enough publicity that it was successful. Was she cured? Who knows--but I had a wonderful neighbor a few years back who was the grandson of the physician who later replaced Dr. Patterson. When Mary was "sprung" from the sanitarium she left eleven trunks full of personal belongings behind, along with all the furniture. His family acquired a lot of it, and he gifted me with Mary's rocking chair. Funny thing is, all the furniture had holes in the bottom legs, so they could be nailed to the floor. This was done because all day and all night she would anxiously move the furniture back and forth around the room.