Hydrotherapy
Warm continuous baths were used
to treat patients suffering from
insomnia, those considered to be
suicidal and assaultive, and calmed
excited and agitated behaviour.
Cold water was used to treat
patients diagnosed with manicdepressive psychoses
24
mal appointment of a
medical
superintendent. Moral therapy
was pushed aside and
medication and hydrotherapy became the
forefront of treatment
and practices. After
such a successful start,
The Retreat was being
converted to an asylum
of the olden days. The
Retreat expanded and
the community ethos
that served William
Tuke so well was quickly forgotten. Quaker
involvement was limited and the institute
began to look unrecognizable from its early
days. Statistics for The
Retreat between 1880
and 1884 show that
the majority of patients
were non-Quaker and
suffering from schizophrenia and mood disorders. Drug therapy
was the common prescription and over a
third of patients had
a history of assaulting
each other or the staff.