March Madness at Bedlam Hospital
I'm not into sports, but I think there's some event called March Madness. But this time of year is also the season when people with bipolar illness often experience mania.
At the beginning of last night's biweekly support group for my opiate addicted patients in Bucksport, "Friends and Family", my Behavioral Health Director mentioned that March Madness and Bedlam refer back to the history box psychiatry and British mental health institutions, so (you know me), I started researching.
Bethlem Royal Hospital was England’s first asylum for the treatment of mental illness, and for many years a place of inhumane conditions, the nickname of which – Bedlam – became a byword for mayhem or madness. It was also a popular London attraction for the morbidly entertained.
Bethlem was founded in 1247 and through most of its history reflected contemporary views on the treatment and care of people with a mental illness. There was, however, a darker period when the hospital became more conservative, secretive and, eventually, abusive in the treatment of its patients. This lasted for more than a century and, despite later reforms, has led to the permanent association of the term 'Bedlam' with anything that is chaotic or unruly.
https://www.historyextra.com/period/victorian/bethlem-royal-hospital-history-why-called-bedlam-lunatic-asylum/
Chou and Lee wrote in 2018:
Symptoms of mental illness often become worse during the spring season. For patients with mood disorders, the phrase “spring fever” has a different meaning. Previous studies have reported that the incidence of mania peaks during the spring in both the Northern and Southern Hemispheres [1]. Many studies have indicated that suicide rates also peak during the spring season [2]. It has been suggested that the sudden increase in the duration and amount of sunlight is a possible cause of these phenomena. However, the mechanisms underlying the peak in incidence of mania and suicide during the spring season are unclear and remain to be elucidated.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5900367/
I love words and learning how rthey came about…