January 13, 2012

Tranquilizer Chair, Mental Hospital, Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia



This "tranquilizer chair" was developed by a doctor in Philadelphia to restrain and treat mental patients. Evidence of the use of a similar device at the nation's first mental hospital in Williamsburg exists as a bill was recieved by the director for "fixing irons" to two chairs. The photo at the bottom is an exhibit used to show its use.
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10 comments:

  1. JoJanuary 13, 2012

    OMW, it looks like an old-fashioned electric chair from the movies! I wonder if the patients became tranquil in this contraption. Hope you have a wonderful weekend. Greetings Jo, Kenya

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  2. Dave-CostaRicaDailyPhoto.comJanuary 13, 2012

    Shocking. We have come a long way in our treatment of mental health. We still have a long way to go, particularly with respect to the resources that our society devotes to mental health treatment.

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  3. 黄清华 Wong Ching WahJanuary 13, 2012

    Insane looking chair !

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  4. Wayfarin' StrangerJanuary 13, 2012

    I'm sure use of this chair led to great improvement on the part of the patients. But then we were bleeding people at that time to remove "foul humors," weren't we.

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  5. PerthDailyPhotoJanuary 13, 2012

    Goodness me, they certainly had some bizarre ideas back then!!

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  6. Queenie BelieveJanuary 13, 2012

    Wow, talk about time-out on steroids... dang! So glad to be in the 21st c. medical technology-wise. -lol-
    Have a great day.
    Always, Queenie

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  7. AnonymousJanuary 14, 2012

    Wow.. that's an amazing piece of mental health history...

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  8. SalitypeJanuary 16, 2012

    Oh wow, thanks for sharing this photo, very interesting !!!

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  9. MannFebruary 18, 2012

    They are awesome. Wow! no words to express

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    ReplyDelete