This list of reasons women were admitted to a mental asylum in 1864 includes ‘reading a book’

Thankfully we’ve got better (sort of) at the way we treat and deal with mental illness, but this list of reasons women were admitted to a mental asylum in 1864 (“political excitement”, “bad company”, “tobacco and masturbation”) really shows how backward things were back then.

Here’s a bit of backstory to women in asylums in the 19th century. It’s not cheery reading.