Modern Medicine

One of my loves is family history research. While researching I came across a cousin of my great-grandfather. Her name was Bessie. Everything we had heard about Bessie before then was she had traveled to Europe and while there became ill and passed away. However, I was able to find her death certificate. She died at the age of 36 in the Bloomingdale Hospital in New York, not in Europe. What's more, I researched Bloomingdale Hospital and discovered it was an insane asylum. The asylum was very expensive so only those with money could afford to be there. Her death certificate listed that contributory to her cause of death was "dementia praecox" which is Schizophrenia.

From what I gather out of all this is, Bessie had Schizophrenia. Her parents loved her so much they sent her to the best asylum they could to help her. However, they didn't want to let others know what was going on so they told others she was in Europe studying music.

Thinking about Bessie, I started to apply her situation to myself. Doing so made me so grateful for modern medicine. Because of modern medicine, I can take a few pills and feel ok again. I don't have to leave my family for years to work through my mental health problems.

I'm also very grateful for the world we live in today that is becoming more accepting of the idea that mental health issues are real. They are not something made up in the minds of those who suffer from them.

I guess it could be a whole lot worse....