Historical Contextualisation of the Scandal
In the early 19th century, Psychiatry was in its early stages of development and establishing itself in the medical field. At that time Psychiatry lacked any scientific or medical sense. People were trying to propose theories about mental illness and most of their theories suggested that mental illness is an incurable condition. Some thoughts stated that mental disease is a genetic condition, which is passed on through families and cultures. Mental illness was also diagnosed as witchcraft. Upon the arrival of Henry Cotton to Trenton, Cotton proposed his theory of ″Focal Sepsis″. Before his arrival, moral treatment was practiced at the Trenton Hospital which emphasises the importance of separation of the patient from family environments and promoting a strong bond between patient and doctor. At the start of the 18th century, the "insane" were typically viewed as wild animals and sometimes they were kept in madhouses often in chains and neglected for years. They were subjected to numerous tortuous "treatments" including whipping, beating, bloodletting...etc. The moral treatment emerged on the context of the enlightenment and it focuses on social welfare and individual rights, instead of brutally assaulting people with mental disorders in the name of treatment.
In the 1916, Henry started his career at Trenton and started to attract people seeking for a cure from everywhere. He started with removing patients teeth as it was suspectible of habouring "infection". His theory attracted everyone, even wealthy men and women. his treatment then got more aggressive and he started performing surgeries and removing numerous patient's organs, even without antimicrobial agents which increased the infection and death rates. Cotton thought that with his theory, he finally solved what causes, treats and prevents mental illness. He thought that with his theory Psychiatry was fully developed and established in the modern medical field. Despite that, Cotton was wrong as his theory did not treat or cure insanity, it even made it worse.
In the 1916, Henry started his career at Trenton and started to attract people seeking for a cure from everywhere. He started with removing patients teeth as it was suspectible of habouring "infection". His theory attracted everyone, even wealthy men and women. his treatment then got more aggressive and he started performing surgeries and removing numerous patient's organs, even without antimicrobial agents which increased the infection and death rates. Cotton thought that with his theory, he finally solved what causes, treats and prevents mental illness. He thought that with his theory Psychiatry was fully developed and established in the modern medical field. Despite that, Cotton was wrong as his theory did not treat or cure insanity, it even made it worse.