The Horrific Story of Bethlem Insane Asylum | Short Plainly Difficult Documentary

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Do you like this revived series? Have any suggestions for future videos, let me know in the comments. This weeks outro video kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z4C3XmWomqeIeMU

[@Nobodyfromnowhere42]

Yo , what is the thing that keeps popping up in the top right i ve seen it in other videos as well, the barcode like thingy

[@aragathor]

How about a look at the Maunsell forts? Especially at their post-WW2 use?

[@hakology]

you know i'd love to see you do a series on the machines and history of the industrial revolution ;)

[@TwinBleaks]

I love any PD content, tbh but yes, this is great!

[@SevenHunnid]

I do food reviews while I’m high off zaza on my youtube channel cx

[@zappababe8577]

The phrase "going around the bend" came from Bedlam. That was because Bedlam was reached by going along a curved road, so if you "went around the bend" it meant that you'd gone completely mad.

[@kenosabi]

The more you know 🌠

[@awakenyewhosleeprealityisn4860]

Thank you! Interesting fact😃

[@sirensynapse5603]

Citations por favor.

[@rogerthomson9461]

Going “doolally” came from India where if British soldiers went mad they were sent. It referred to Deolali camp where soldiers were accommodated on arrival and departure from India by ship.

[@MCDreng]

I googled this and it seems uncertain which, if any, mental hospital actually inspired this phrase. I found references to two mental hospitals in the US as well as people who said it couldn't be proven that it even refers to the driveways leading into mental hospitals. No mentions of Beth'lem.

[@100SteveB]

I learned to drive in the grounds of the Bethlem Royal Hospital back in the 80's. My mate was a groundsman there, and he used to let me drive his van around the hospitals roads. One of the roads was on an incline, so i could practice hill starts. After a few weeks of messing around on the roads of the hospital - totally unsupervised, I took my test at the West Wickham driving test centre and passed first time! Not something you could get away with these days I bet. Not been back there since then, but from what i see in your video it looks pretty much the same as I remember it. Though I don't recall there being a museum back then.

[@daviddavidson2357]

There's an asylum near me and a lot of people use it for driving practice. Lots of small roads, hills and multiple car parks for each different ward make it a good location.

[@stuffedninja1337]

Y'all are both making me smile here. Kinda nice that "learned to drive in a weird open area" is a common thing across the globe. Mine was my grandpa taking me to the local (mostly defunct) Racetrack, since it was basically just a huge open parking lot at the time. If we had something like this locally, we'd probably have practiced there, too. xD;

[@100SteveB]

@@stuffedninja1337 I was lucky because the security guard was friends with my mate, so he turned a blind eye to the van constantly driving around the grounds. We used to be able to practice in all kinds of places, but over the years the opportunities become less and less - more security, number plate recognition cameras etc.

[@stuffedninja1337]

It’s too bad, in a way. I get that security needs to be a priority (everything from vandals to terrorists out here looking to screw up your landscaping), but restricting access to various environments is going to limit the capabilities of future drivers. Ofc, once they get past the “this is the brake, this is the throttle” stage, you can do what my grandpa did, and move the lesson to a small neighbourhood, if one’s available.

[@erikaswanson7072]

I learned to drive in the parking lot of a ski resort about a mile from my house, but over the summer when it was wide open and no one was there. They didn't employ any security back then once the season was over. The gate into the upper lots was locked, but the lower lots were ungated.

[@tncorgi92]

Hi John, I ran across an article in an old book that I thought might be worthy of a video. In 1880, a tornado flattened Marshfield, Missouri, killing 99 people in less than a minute. The survivors, even the uninjured, began to show signs of extreme apathy and were unwilling to describe the event. The term "shell shocked" was not coined until 1915 but the Marshfield cases were the first medical mention of the affliction that we now call PTSD.

[@bmc9504]

Wow, would love to know more about that!

[@MegCazalet]

That sounds fascinating! I’m going to try to find out more about that! Thank you.

[@SlapstickGenius23]

Ptsd also affects survivors of horrid childhood mistreatment.

[@jordaneggerman4734]

As a resident of Springfield, I'm surprised this is the first I'm hearing of this!

[@samanthafoster3527]

@@SlapstickGenius23no one said it didn’t? Not arguing just confused why that was mentioned since no one said otherwise

[@thePrussian]

“I actually enjoyed my stay at the various Bethlem Hospitals, especially the pubs and brothels, although drilling into my head was most uncomfortable.” --Lord Stanley Edmund Edmund, Mrs.

[@Matityahu755]

I was a healthcare professional up until quite recently. One hospital I worked in was Mayday Hospital in Croydon. I lost count on the number of patients I transferred over to the Royal Bethlem Hospital in the 90's. Not enough was known or even talked about mental health unlike today. I often wondered what became of those patients who were having a psychosis and a mental health crisis. I too have been affected by a mental health crisis, largely impart to Covid19. My 32 years as a nurse have come to an end, and there are things I have seen recently, that can not be unseen. Take care of your own mental health. If no one has told you recently, you are enough, and that you are loved just the way you are.

[@archlich4489]

Respect. Be well, friend.

[@29boilersunderthesea99]

Sorry to hear the NHS screwed you over too, whilst it's great it has its downfalls and is slowly collapsing

[@bmc9504]

The 90s when working in a care home home was mostly watching over 90+ year olds whom could cook and clean for themselves, more beef dripping/lard and red meat than you'll ever see people eat today. Very independent, times have changed and have to deal with people in their 50s and 60s near death with poor mental health. They're fed "healthy" in todays standards but just deteriorate faster. There was a prison experiment back iin the which is hard to find where they kept two prisons on high carb and the other on saturated fats and meat, the ones on fat and meat had significantly less mental and physical issues while being significantly less likely to reoffend.

[@SlapstickGenius23]

@@29boilersunderthesea99 the NhS needs a much better replacement as well.

[@SlapstickGenius23]

@@bmc9504 that’s both interesting and complicated.

[@jeffwalker7185]

I have been admitted to psychiatric hospitals on several occasions, sometimes detained under section two of the Mental Health Act. Whilst modern units are a world away from Bedlham, they still have quite far to go. There is litlte or no theraputic intervention beyone medication - they do however still use ECT. You rarely get to see a psychiatrist or therapist and, by and large, the main staffing presence on the ward is provided by Health Care Assistants, who have limited nursing training. They are brilliant and caring. 'Qualified' nurses tend to spend most of their time in the nursing office doing paperwork. When my mental health crisis starts to recede, the biggest experience I have on the ward is utter boredom. There is nothing to do other than watch TV or walk up and down the ward. The hospital I was in had very restricted visiting hours and there was nowhere private to have a visitor. When I have been in hospital under a section, I was not allowed to leave the ward unless I was given Section 17 leave. Problem was, to take my Section 17 leave and get off the ward for a short while, I needed to be with a member of staff. Generally, no one was free to escort me off the ward, so my leave was worthless.

[@mhoppy6639]

Excellent comment which throws into sharp relief the problems facing many disciplines in the NhS. Clinical time has been knackered by “money saving” elsewhere in admin so people paid to care and nurse end up administering the organisation. Senior management always have their own admin so they never see the corrosive effect that cuts have on the services below. Admin is and always will be the most important work in ANY institution or business or organisation. People trying to save money forget this at their peril as lack of decent comms admin etc often leads to disastrous care, with litigation, and public inquiries etc. thanks for the insight.

[@paul6925]

Sounds brutal but this wasn’t my experience at all in Canada. I was in for a month at UBC hospital for treatment of chronic depression that didn’t respond to medication. But it was voluntary. The alternative was drifting through life thinking about killing myself all the time so… Also modern ECT is safe and effective and is merely an induced seizure under anesthetic. The popular concept of what it is comes entirely from movies which aren’t accurate at all. Furthermore it was used in combination with medication, cognitive therapy and exercise programs. My entire day was filled with therapy related activities. My biggest beef was that I couldn’t bring my computer. (It was back in the days before smart phones)

[@duffman18]

ECT does actually have some medical use. They just use it in a very targeted way these days, pumping lecky through specific areas of the brain rather than all of it. As someone with schizophrenia I've long considered asking my doctor for it. Just a few treatments. But yeah it has to be with consent, and it can't be the old fashioned version of ECT which damn near blew people's heads open

[@MyrKnof]

still sounds kind of brutal to be honest, but very good insights, so thank you for commenting. Hope you are doing well.

[@whynotjustmyusername]

You are summing up not only the problems of psychiatry, but also of modern medicine in general. A very worrying trend I see is that medical professionals are sent to the desks and patient work is being delegated to assistance jobs. First it was the doctors who were pretty much banned to the desk and the nurses who received more and more responsibilities. Now it's even the nurses who sit at the desk all day with nursing assistants doing the patient work, whereas I as a (soon to be) doctor sit at my desk writing up orders and notes and only seeing my patients (of which I have up to 40) for five minutes a day during rounds. This is already quite frustrating in normal care wards for internal medicine and I can only imagine how detrimental it must be in psychiatry, where every minute of the day counts for the better or the worse of the patient. That is, btw, why I'm into intensive care. We still do so many specialised procedures that I have much more frequent contact with my patients. I have fewer patients on my ward and I see them several times a day. First for rounds, then for a thorough exam each day and then all the time in between for procedures.

[@snarkymoosesshack8793]

As someone who's been in IT, the spilling of the coffee and the defeated "Shit." really hit home, and is indeed a very familiar feeling🤣

[@dawnyandandy]

I was there in 2001😢

[@andywagnac5255]

Please never stop doing “Here on this map” bit! Just the perfect icing on the dope cake that is your video!

[@vinnys7514]

Penn State had a class called 'The History of Madness and Mental Health' that taught a lot of this in the daily lectures. Loved the new perspective and insights. Definitely big on the legacy scale.

[@nerdygoth6905]

Glad you've decided to revive this series, even if you don't go outside London there's enough to keep you going for a while! Not one place but perhaps the necropolis railway? The bit with the yellow star was chilling. And endlessly amused that whilst looking at the development of mental health treatment you still managed to find an engineering disaster.

[@annakeye]

Are you a Fortean Times reader per chance, Eve? That's where I was introduced to the necropolis line and it was a fascinating read.

[@nerdygoth6905]

@@annakeye I used to be, so quite possibly that's where I learned about it too, though I've got a vague feeling TV was involved

[@RichardWatt]

@@nerdygoth6905 Jago Hazard has made a video on that, which you might be interested in while waiting for PD to make his video.

[@shadodragonette]

Given my sad state of mental health, I want to state EMPHATICALLY that being locked in a small room for all or most or even part of a day does NOT help! People need healthy interactions, some sort of healthy natural place to go to to just relax a half hour or hour or three. I have checked myself into a mental health facility, lasted about 9 days, and then was internally yelling "get me out". A stupid schedule that didn't take in that some people have different sleep schedules (I am a night person, and being made to go to bed at 10pm just meant I tried to be quiet for 3 or more hours so I didn't disturb my room mate.) THEN they limited the coffee. I don't like coffee, but after about 3 hours of sleep, I needed the caffeine to survive the boring classes during the day. Some of the staff would look the other way while additional pots were made, some would not. The only thing I learned from all that was that I was the ONLY person in the building who had never used cocaine. Surprising, given I couldn't figure out how any of them could afford it. We were all poor, barely affording food and rent, so how did they afford the drugs??? I don't know, I probably don't want to know. Oh, and I also learned alcohol is actually the worst to detox from. They sent people who drank a lot to the hospital before they would treat them, because it is that bad to detox from. I don't know all the details, but I am sure you can find them.

[@xminusone1]

Alcohol detox is called delirium tremens when it goes badly. They use to give people a benzodiasepine called librium to forbid this to happen. They sometimes give alprazolam (xanax) instead. They usually diminish the doses gradually. It happens when heavy drinkers stop suddenly. They can have fever, heart issues and hallucinations cramps and it's a very dangerous situation. *English isn't my language.

[@shadodragonette]

@@xminusone1 I did hear some of that when I was in the mental hospital, but I didn't pay much attention. I was there so I didn't take many knives to my wrists after I lost custody of my son. He is now 22 and still has his mom, so he's happy. I don't like to imagine how he would be if I had succeeded. Never ever try to kill yourself, the people you leave behind will blame themselves if they are innocent, and clap if they hurt you. You should outlive those who hurt you and clap instead. NOT kill them, that still gives them a win.

[@OpalBLeigh]

I have been both the mentally ill person and the employee at different points! (When I got better I went back to help) And yeah, I was always told alcohol and heroin were the worst to detox from. Saw a number of them and it seemed like it was true 😬 people really underestimate how prevalent alcoholism is and how it absolutely RUINS peoples lives. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not asking for prohibition, just more knowledge and better treatment. Watching clients drink cleaning supplies to try to get the alcohol that was inside in small amounts was a lot.

[@shadodragonette]

@@OpalBLeigh I never got so bad that I drank cleaning fluid. Or wine vinegar.

[@paddlefaster]

What's your describing sounds like a dual diagnosis facility. I was in one for alcoholism. They treat mental health as well as the psychiatric issues. I agree there's a lot left for improvement. I guess my only thoughts are that they do the best they can with the variety of patients they get. Mental health care in the United States is severely lacking.

[@luvondarox]

😆 You caught me with the "alms not arms" bit. You definitely knew what we'd hear.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

:D

[@nitt3rz]

Oh John, not only are your videos really well researched, your animations are simply superb, I love the Monty Python foot.

[@TransmissionEpicts]

The history of UK county asylums and asylums in general is fascinating in general. Really interesting video! Also liked the Boards of Canada / Protect & Survive flavoured music at the end.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you!!

[@anthonydefreitas6006]

It's interesting looking at the old maps and see where the names of places we go to & hear about on a regular basis come from. Moorfields, Spitalfields, were once fields.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

I know what you mean, I love a bit of topography too!

[@Robbie06261995]

Until you spill your drink on them that is.

[@ReneSchickbauer]

The Asylum moved to the heart of London. Current location: Houses of Parliament, St Margaret St, London SW1A 0AA. These days, you can watch the patients on TV and via Livestreams.

[@stopgotdamndeletingmycomme8642]

💯

[@AshleyMartin-f3x]

And the Muslims trying to take over England

[@MarcoPallotti]

Thank you for posting this. I grew up on Shrublands Estate in nearby Shirley. When I was 13-14 (in the late 60s) I had a paper round (the newsagent was on Wickham Rd near Bridle Rd) and some of the deliveries I made were in buildings on the grounds of Bethlem. After 40+ years in the US I get pangs of nostalgia from videos like this.

[@SimpleSaemple]

Thank you for reviving this series. I started becoming so sick of the radiation accident and disaster videos

[@BezosAutomaticEye]

Nowt wrong with a good old fashion radiation incident.

[@LeviathanRX]

so you have... radiation sickness better get that checked out by two guys stepping on eachother's feet

[@scrantonwut]

I live near the current location and used to walk through the Imperial War Museum going to work regularly. This has been an amazing watch for my own local knowledge!

[@lilytea3]

0:00: 🏥 Bethlem Hospital, with a history of over 700 years, represented madness and chaos, but also provided treatment for some. 3:54: ! The history of Bethlem Royal Hospital and its early patients. 7:56: 🏥 The video discusses the history of a hospital and its move to a new location. 11:24: 🏥 The 18th-century hospital, Bethlem, used cruel treatments and was in poor condition, leading to the decision to rebuild. 15:16: 🏥 The 19th-century asylum system in the UK focused on classifying patients and providing some level of comfort and treatment. Recap by Tammy AI

[@jp-um2fr]

Many years ago I went to a mental hospital along with some horses so that the patients could have a ride. Two attendants came out with a patient secured between them. He was in a straight jacket. As they passed he looked at me. I can still see those eyes after all these years. He was stark raving mad. One lap of the lawn and he was taken back inside. Everyone else was almost silent for a while. Then the horse I had had a pee and the spell was broken. That poor, poor man, there was no hope. There but for the grace of God - go any of us.

[@malonedickridesagain3998]

thats cool of you.

[@RR-kz4hq]

That’s fascinating. Also awesome horses 🐴

[@jacekatalakis8316]

THe Killing Floor 1 Bedlam map was heavily, heavily based on both the building and the 1946 movie, from memory it was based more off the actual building than the film, with a bit of fictionalizing and tweaking to suit KF's story, but walking around it even when all was quiet between waves, knowing the history of the real hospital, always was very, very creepy. Well done, Tripwire Interactive, well done. Given how London centric KF1 was, I don't doubt that's the actual building in the KF1 map as well now I think about it and see the pictures though. Anyone who owns the original Killing Floor and has the Bedlam map and a few spare ours able to check how accurate the map is?

[@rcrawford42]

I saw the plaque near the Imperial War Museum, but had no idea the building was part of Bethlem! Almost scary how fitting that is. Plus, you can't best a museum that has a V-1 and V-2 in the atrium...

[@Truckngirl]

Today I learned: Not being a Thespian, I'd never heard the term "tread the boards" before today. Thank you for being a teacher, John!

[@whyjnot420]

If you are doing videos on this topic I would highly recommend looking at Bridgewater State Hospital for the Criminally Insane, where Titicut Follies was filmed. A documentary that directly led to much change in mental health institutes across the US. Also one of the most chilling documentaries I have ever seen.

[@paddlefaster]

I really like this format. Dark Dives back in history. Kind of imagine what places like this were like in person.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you!

[@SanktaLo]

i only know of bethlem from historical fiction, so this was really interesting!! i’m a psych grad student and the history of mental health treatment is both horrifying and fascinating to me. thanks for sharing this!

[@debbiekerr3989]

This was a great video, and I appreciate all the time you took to give so many details. Thank you for posting this, and please do some more videos like this.

[@kvarner6886]

I am living for the cuts to John with his stupid maps. I absolutely adore it, thank you.

[@SpankyK]

John, you're so freaking good at this it's crazy. Keep it up my man!

[@jannamyers6792]

My pictures to Bethlehem was when John Stossel snuck in and took pictures

[@rosemiller417]

I been in and out psychatric Hospitals too.1. stay had me traumatized from the start as they set me off strong Meds I've been given before without any Substitute or Help. Also they used Beds with Restraints beside Meds. I managed that once. 15 Years ago now. Biggest Problem I see ever again is Boredome and Loneliness due to Understaffing and under/missqualification induced mishandling. Other ones where different in handling Crisis and even did want me to go down slow off Prescribed Meds on a Dose that was just cute in my Opinion and former Experience.. I still have Problems with certain Hospital settings because of my 1. full Stay, out of free will, didn't had the Chance making 'Friends', so didn't understand why I was 'punished' and for what. The Meds I took in Crisis where strongly addictive physically, restricted norm. for over 18 only, so they just not gave them indifferent to the Consequences. Couldn't make much Trouble anyway, unable to move much from the Cramps.

[@scotishjohn]

Happy mental are we hahaha

[@andreyradchenko8200]

In Russian-speaking world, there is a second asylum with a cult status (not as great as Bethlem, but still more than noteworthy): Kaschenka/Kanatchikoff's Dacha. Officially named Peter Kaschenko Psychiatric Hospital, it's been around for quite less time than Bethlem, but shares its role as one of the first modern type mental institutions.

[@xminusone1]

Wasn't the psychiatric hospital no 1 in Moscow?

[@andreyradchenko8200]

@@xminusone1 Iirc it was originally outside the city's boundaries but then was absorbed as it grew.

[@Samstrainsofficially]

I feel uneasy just looking at that enterance. Never a patient, but some bad family memories attached. Thanks for telling the story of the place.

[@beethimbles8801]

Fun fact: I used to teach drama at bedlam! Well at the imperial war museum in London which is in the building of old bedlam. We still had manacles and old fashion doors and locks xx

[@StrongDreamsWaitHere]

The most fascinating thing about this was to learn the origin of the term Bedlam.

[@andreabenz1199]

Love these throwbacks to older plainly difficult series your doing John. Thank you

[@JamesStec]

4:10 - FYI, the city of Bethlehem, PA is largely pronounced as Bethlem by locals despite keeping the spelling of its namesake

[@PlainlyDifficult]

That's cool.

[@nicholasneyhart396]

And it is just as decrepit.

[@erikaswanson7072]

@@nicholasneyhart396 Just as decrepit, but they did build a casino, so... just as bad. They also named a nearby town Nazareth.

[@kruksog]

I must not have been around when you initially did "strange places," but I really enjoyed its resurrection. Keep doing this! I enjoy just about everything you do. Cheers.

[@cynthiatolman326]

Wow, I missed this yesterday. I always get notifications. Thank you John, made a nice Sunday treat

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you

[@benmcreynolds8581]

I'm so facinated with the study of the mind and the history of this subject. I really hope medicine evolves as well as technology that might help find a way to enhance our knowledge, see key factors, pathways, connections and how to appropriately treat them. I really hope we improve our treatment because currently we really don't have much options. SSRI meds and others similar are very hit and miss with if they even help a patient and they really mess with your chemistry as you're going through the process of trying to figure out what works for you. I'm just hoping more options get discovered because it really doesn't seem correct to blanket treat certain things with "meds to increase serotonin" that might not even be the correct manner to approach. We really need further studies and it will be interesting to see if we advance into a new chapter of "mental health treatment, medicine and testing/imaging"

[@duffman18]

We don't know why mental health medications work. Like, we have no idea why physical/bio-chemical process they undergo that makes them work at all. That's why it's all trial and error. For me, having schizophrenia, simply finding an anti-psychotic med that puts me to sleep guaranteed every night has practically made my symptoms disappear. I'm lucky. It took me a lot of trial and error with my doctor. All I can say to anyone who's also suffering is that if your meds suck and you hate the side effects, simply tell your doctor immediately. Ideally don't stop them cold turkey (although I had to do that once, with Aripiprozole, cos I practically had an allergic reaction to it and had to stop taking it immediately, it was a nightmare. But I told my doctor and support worker/nurse immediately and they understood and got me in for an emergency appointment). So yeah, just keep your doctor (i.e. your psychiatrist, since they decide on what psychiatric medication you use, not your General practitioner/family doctor, the latter only prescribes what the psychiatrist tells them to prescribe) There's no need to keep taking the same awful medication for 6 months until your next appointment with the shrink. Tell them immediately that you want to try a different one. I wish I'd done that. Because the original drug they put me on, olanzapine, put me to sleep, but made me very obese (olanzapine does that to everybody who takes it, it's unavoidable, it messes with your fat depositing hormone i.e. insulin). I am permanently disabled because of that. I use a walking stick and I'm only 33. I'm on a ton of pain meds. Olanzapine caused the herniated disc in my spine which makes me disabled. I wish wish wish wish I had said something before it got so bad. Any young mentally ill people reading this, please please tell your doctor if your experiencing any negative side effect, including rapid weight gain. Because that ruined my life. The drug I eventually found is Quetiapine, which puts me to sleep but without the weight gain. But the best drug is different for every person. Everyone's body chemistry works differently. So just keep asking your doctor to try a new med until you find one that suits you and you like the side effects (like the drowsiness quetiapine causes is technically a side effect, but it means for the first time in my adult life I can sleep every night, and lack of sleep is the biggest trigger for me to have an episode of psychosis). But yeah you're right, a lot more research is needed. But right now, we just don't know how these drugs work. We just know that they do. So it's all just a process of trial and error. What you can't do is solve an illness like schizophrenia with good vibes. Medication is pretty much necessary. It's the only way to stay you.

[@RunningInLondon]

John, I've only just started, and I love this documentary / series. Thanks for your continued hard work on all your videos. Love from Canada 🇨🇦

[@mercenarystagehand]

The way John said a "Southern Corner of the U.K." both times ...

[@bullnukeoldman3794]

Well done, John. Well done.

[@cd5433]

Thanks for making these . I flip a playlist on when I get to work and listen all day !

[@jasonhaman4670]

Good choice of topic going into Halloween, and perfect time to bring back Strange Places. The National Archives' map beverage mishap... Pythonesque foot... "The writing was on the wall"... another classic, with Patented Plainly Difficult comedic seasoning.

[@justherbirdy]

Bethlam's final home is a sunny south-east corner of London...John's in a sunny south-east corner of London....... Is there something you're trying to tell us, John? Super looking forward to this series continuing!

[@derekstocker6661]

Thanks so very much for this, great documentary about somewhere I worked for a short time as an art, pottery and woodwork teacher. I still have one or two items I made as examples. A lot of good work done at this hospital, and yes, as mentioned elsewhere they had a small museum and a few paintings done by ex inmates there.

[@carpemkarzi]

Fantastic series, John. Thank you

[@NewingtonBoy]

Great video, very informative & interesting! I was brought up around the Elephant & Castle! To this day we still call it Bedlam Park!

[@gafrers]

Always great to see on location footage filmed by You

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thanks 👍

[@StevePetrica]

I love the euphemism of "mental health treatment." Mental health doesn't require treatment; mental *illness* does! But the theory goes that it's stigmatizing to suggest that florid psychosis or suicidal depression is anything other than part of the glorious tapestry of human experience.

[@idanthyrsus6887]

Now we just leave them on the streets of major urban cities.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Sadly true

[@DeeDerry]

Great Vid...I worked at Bethlem for about 2 years until 2019...Very 'Interesting' place even nowadays

[@joeyr7294]

I like the sound of reviving the series. Look into the copper works in Swansea, Wales....I think it was called white rock? In not sure....crazy history though!!! And I can't imagine the damage done throughout the years...workers life expectancy was only 35 to 45 years old!

[@PlainlyDifficult]

blimey !! thanks for the suggestion

[@joeyr7294]

@@PlainlyDifficult definitely!!! Love both the channels...especially this one with some coffee and a smoke 👍💯☕️🌬

[@FloozieOne]

A fascinating journey through time and dementia. Thank you.

[@dismith73]

ECT is still regularly used by the NHS for long term depression and mental illness in elderly people. It is hard to find statistics but around two to twelve thousand sessions are still administered annually.

[@altawedgie1392]

I’m surprised if it is that few. In Canada more than 15k treatments are administered annually, to all ages (other then children), and most psychiatric hospitals have an ECT program.

[@taraelizabethdensley9475]

How barbaric

[@morphman86]

I first became interested in Bethlem after playing the Nintendo64 port of the DOS game Bedlam. This was the mid-to-late 90s, so Wikipedia was not a thing back then, but I was volunteering in the school library half an hour a week and had pretty much free access to research that way. I sort of took the Behtlem > Bedlam connection as gospel, but the sources I had available only took me as far back as the 1800s, so the connection Betlehem > Bethlem was never made. Thank you for re-igniting my fascination with the history of this place, and teaching me more about the things I missed out so long ago!

[@Eiuol81853]

This was very insightful short doc on a place I didnt know about. As an American, I would love to know about other strange places in the UK, given it will take a while for me to afford to travel there.

[@Meenadevidasi]

Excellent documentaries on all your channels. Look forward to seeing what you share here. Thank you.

[@aliksanderj9729]

Good Morning John! From a cloudy, chilly west coast of Vancouver BC

[@catmedic]

Sunny but chilly northern part of New Jersey!

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Hello there!

[@eliotheasman5378]

Many thanks John for all information in this video

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Glad it was helpful!

[@pedro7o7u]

Great video as ever, keep up the good work!

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you

[@coyoteartist]

In Jr High, our English class was structured on a 15 day cycle. Day 5, 10 and 15 would be dedicated to etomology. One etomology I recall distinctly in 6th grade was Bedlam. While Mr. Trunk didn't go into massive detail, he did cover the general overall history of the hospital.

[@johnnypsycho9628]

I wonder how many of us climbed and crawled along the barrels of the guns outside The Imperial Museum . I did at aged 10 in the 70's and they had to call the Fire brigade

[@PlainlyDifficult]

😂😂I can safely say I never did that!

[@derekstocker6661]

I recall seeing these being transported to the museum by road at night one to a truck when I was working (near the A2 possibly) at the time, did not know at the time where or what they were being carried for but saw them being installed soon after.

[@oleandreaswilladssen7290]

Supreme work! -As usual. I love your work on nuclear accidents and other toxic topics. And on the matter of your music, I'm impressed, and I like the "organic" sound. It reminds me of Boards of Canada, -whitch I hope you are aquinted with. Keep up the good work! Cheers!

[@revenevan11]

Omg, I *love* learning the etymology of words we use, and I had no idea that "bedlam" came from this place! Blew my mind with that one! 🤯

[@jonathanwaswrong3917]

That reminds me of the dark roots of the phrase "run amok"... I say bedlam alot and honestly didnt know its roots... God bless all yall!

[@scallopohare9431]

Years ago, I looked through some archives in Winchester, well, photocopies. There was a class of people called "sturdy beggars." They could not settle to work or support themselves. There seemed to be a narrow age range, and I still wonder if they went off into the countryside to avoid other people, or got scooped up and put in whatever institutions were around at the time. In our time, It hasn't helped that psychiatrists, MD & PhD, have been relegated to writing script.

[@bubbleglass]

Thanks for covering this. I'm in the U. S. It's interesting to see how mental health treatment has evolved. I'm not quite understanding that last few minutes of film, though...

[@trabajoCARA]

17:00 Please consider that electro convulsive therapy is still a valid treatment option for patients that can’t improve their condition via other means. The main thing is this treatment is currently applied only as a sort of “last resort” and under anesthesia in order to spare the patient from the trauma of the procedure itself. This “last resort” therapy is very important for some of these patients, as it’s they only way that they can “get out” of maniac episodes that keep damaging their brain the longer they last. Please don’t place a stigma over the current implementation of this treatments. For some people is the only alternative to be able to get back to a normal life.

[@sherrigillman401]

Unlike some poor folks in these comments I suffer with no mental health issues that I know of at least. What I DO suffer from is a wicked sense of humor & I see the video editor does as well. Spilling the tea on the map then watching it come out of the oven made me absolutely laugh out loud. That was great! Well done. Keep up the great work.

[@brieframe6746]

Your maps just get better and better!

[@PlainlyDifficult]

😬

[@agent0066]

An appreciative nod at the retro pre advert ticker.

[@bobdrooples]

ECT is still done quite a bit. Remember it vividly training in anaesthetics a couple of years ago.

[@mscharlotte9802]

I live in Shirley and have been told so many horrifying stories about this place, always drive past it

[@randalalansmith9883]

Yeah, when Scrooge said "I'll retire to Bedlam." I assumed he was just using a fancy word for bed.

[@sludgebuninsky]

It's interesting learning about the origin of the word "bedlam" for me, personally, because that's what local (American) football games between the two teams are between Oklahoma University, and Oklahoma State University are called officially now, all because in some newspaper, the reaction of the crowd at the end of one of the early-ish games was referred to as bedlam. There's a fun split in Oklahoma's culture where families are either OU or OSU fans, and then there are families like mine who like both, but it's all in good fun. I'm thankful it's not like Scotland where you can get injured or killed over liking a team because of religious associations and such. Now THAT'S bedlam, and not in a lighthearted sense.

[@brightballoon]

As someone who truly needed hospitalization at one point briefly, and had it, though the 'treatment' was not great at all, it was mostly fair, and free from being tortured. My god....!

[@Votrae]

The Bell failed me and I missed this vid! An excellent pick to revive the series, and 13/10 on the map into lmao

[@ketsuekikumori9145]

You know Bedlam's old staff should be considered more insane than its inmates. Repeating something and expecting a different result insane.

[@yowtfputthemaskbackon9202]

unfortunately a big issue with their treatment is that for what they intended to achieve, and with what they believed was actually happening, their treatment "worked". a first primary goal was to get the lunatics, the posessed, and the dulled, (to say it in their words) off of the streets. so first among anything it was a prison for weird people. when it comes to the treatment itself, they worked with what they knew and had, and tried new things. if it worked it worked. they were often of course also troubled people. since they spend all day trying to understand and help those that have seen the worst of it all. but with what they had and knew, they did try their very best, and ultimately, that is how we arrived here, through their mistakes have we achieved a world where we can actually rely on a well researched and funded medical system.

[@gd2234_]

Not gonna lie, I kind of miss your original intro music😂 I always would end up singing along to it, and I loved how the images on the screen would shake along with the music

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Next time! On my regular disaster shows the intro is the same!

[@gd2234_]

@@PlainlyDifficult yayyy! Love the direction you’re going with your music by the way, hope to see it credited on other big creators videos some day:)

[@shipofthesun]

Normally I would, but having spent a small amount of time in somewhere similar I just can't. I look forward to your next video, as always.

[@RobertaFierro-mc1ub]

Terrific illustrations!

[@BobMuir100]

Well John that was ‘suitably’ dark for a video on bedlam!?! Interesting and compelling in its conclusions. Thanks John Bob England

[@slashtehflygon1722]

That intro music SLAPS

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Its one of my own songs!

[@stuffedninja1337]

Nothing says Saturday like a lightly-dystopian PSA.

[@PlainlyDifficult]

thank you

[@stuffedninja1337]

Thank YOU, sir. ^^

[@wacojones8062]

My mom had shock therapy here in the US during early fifties after I was born it did help. Somewhat like hitting reset on a computer. Better drugs now have a bit softer approach, but any intervention has risks involved.

[@lsswappedcessna]

ECT is still used, though under VERY heavy sedation to prevent physical and neurological damage. They also use a far weaker current and the seizures are much shorter (if everything is done properly anyways) which means memory loss, while still present, is less of a problem, as are the other neurology-related side effects. I'd say your mother was lucky to have had a positive outcome. Psychiatry was still plum full of quacks back then.

[@RR-kz4hq]

I saw a recent doc on how a woman who was stuck in a dissociative state received ECT and it brought her out of it.

[@MichaelRBaron]

Love the revived series and your voice sounds less strained

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you!

[@watUlookinat500]

Thanks for the analog horror outtro music. Was starting to fall asleep and now I'm awake lol

[@TheStuart-of-Cosby]

As always good Sir you never disappoint. Thank you for another awesome narration. Once more Brother looking forward to the next

[@cmorris9494]

I live near Philadelphia. The pennhurst asylum there gives tours and did a horror thing at Halloween.

[@sethjazz7262]

Yes! please more, your content is great

[@PlainlyDifficult]

thank you

[@faneuil1]

Great mini doc! Where can I find that bonus Protect and Survive video? Very Frankie goes to Hollywood Two Tribes!

[@PlainlyDifficult]

The link is in the pinned comment

[@faneuil1]

@@PlainlyDifficult thanks!

[@jsnsk101]

The noises emanating from Bethlem described as.... What today would be called "Tweets".

[@PlainlyDifficult]

:D

[@WanhanAjanMansikka]

I love the sprinkled in jokes, they’re funny without being in poor taste-considering the subject matter

[@graemebrown1191]

Really enjoyed that Jon✌ More please Sir

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you!

[@Daydreaminginmono]

Dude that music is SO aphex, love it!

[@PlainlyDifficult]

Thank you I really appreciate it

[@eringann3162]

ok this video was extra interesting, also this outro goes kinda hard, saving it on Spotify!

[@leonb2637]

in 2002 I visited the Imperial War Museum at the former Bethlehem Hospital site. I love that a museum of war is in a former mental health hospital - so appropriate as war is a form of insanity. There are very few inpatient custodial mental health hospitals in the USA with most closed in the 1960's and 1970's as costs to taxpayers, advancements in drugs and other treatments developed and disclosures of horrible treatment and lack of staffing. Many buildings and campuses for custodial mental health facilities also started to deteriorate due to lack of maintenance, too costly to rehabilitate and not needed. One such site is Greystone in Morris Plains, New Jersey, USA that has largely been demolished and a more modern facility replacing it. Parts of the large site are used for park and recreation facilities. Sadly almost all of our prisons, with minimal mental health care available, have become filled by those with mental health problems including from use of illegal drugs.