Examples Of False Imprisonment Of Nellie Bly Insane

False Imprisonment of Sane
One big flaw in the system for the insertions was determining if a person was really insane or not. They did not have the technology and the knowledge to really figure that out yet. Due to this many people that were completely sane were sentenced to these institutions. One huge example of this inability to sort sane from insane was Nellie Bly. Nellie Bly was a reporter at the time that snuck into an asylum in order to uncover the truths. She faked being insane and people along with the government that sent her to the institution believed her. Nellie Bly was put into the institution just because she acted a different way than everybody else. She was able to get into a mental institution because of the poor test performed

Due to the limited knowledge about mental diseases, doctors had to resort to people's word and uneducated test, previously talked about. The mental institutions trusted the people and that was a big mistake as people lied and settled disputes by saying the other person was insane and getting them sent to an institutions. An example of this was Elizabeth Packard who was put in an institution for saying this, “They are antagonistic systems…Christianity upholds God’s authority; Calvinism upholds the Devil’s authority.” Elizabeth's husband was christian and he did not like that she said this very much so he told the government that she was insane and they believed him. She was completely sane, she just disagreed with her husband so he sent her to a mental institutions to get rid of her. Elizabeth was put in a institution because of her opposing religious views not because she was insane showing that the institution did take in people that were completely

Nellie Bly states Margaret’s story, “Her name was Margaret. She told me she had been a cook, and was extremely neat. One day, after she had scrubbed the kitchen floor, the chambermaids came down and deliberately soiled it. Her temper was aroused and she began to quarrel with them, an officer was called and she was taken to an asylum.” Margaret was sent to an institution because some maids tipped her over the edge and she freaked out, not because she was insane. One last story was Josephine Despereaux who was locked up for becoming sick. Her story was, “One morning as I was trying to get breakfast I grew deathly sick, and two officers were called in by the woman of the house, and I was taken to the station-house. I was unable to understand their proceedings, and they paid little attention to my story. Doings in this country were new to me, and before I realized it I was lodged as an insane woman in this asylum.” Josephine was just another example of a false imprisonment because of what other people said. Because the woman of her house wanted her to go to an institution she was sent there. No one listened to what Josephine had to say and it was because of this reason that many people including Josephine were falsely imprisoned. The institution was a place where real mentally ill patients could get treatment, but people were taking advantage of it and getting rid of their wifes and people