Located in the historic Kirkbride building built in 1883, the Oregon State Hospital (OHS) is the oldest working psychiatric facility on the west coast. The OSH Museum is a non-profit, volunteer-run business that provides a fascinating look into the past practices and history of mental health in Oregon. While the Museum’s displays provide some insights into the general history of treating mental health, much of the focus is on the history of OHS.
According to one of the displays:
“The ways medical professionals have classified mental illness has changed over time as the understanding of mental illness both in the field of psychology and in wider society has shifted. For example, the names of certain conditions have been revised with changes in understanding of how conditions relate to one another—what is now known as schizophrenia was once referred to as dementia praecox. Similarly, there are conditions one considered mental illness that are now understood not to be, such as epilepsy.”
Testing and Diagnosis
One of the first steps in treating mental illness is diagnosis. The handbook used by health care professionals in the United States as the authoritative guide to the diagnosis of mental disorders is the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM). DSM is published by the American Psychiatric Association.
Treatment
According to the display:
“In mental disorders the personality is deeply disturbed. Emotional conflicts send their roots into the varied experiences that have befallen one throughout his previous years. Without assistance in unraveling such connections, the patient’s illness may be prolonged, his convalescence be only partially satisfactory, and his capacity to exist in the old environment may be lost. The employment of measures whereby the activity of a well mind is brought to bear helpfully on another mind may be called psychotherapy. Such procedures take considerable time.”
According to the display:
“The idea behind all types of shock therapy is the same: to effect change by shocking the system under extreme conditions. In the late 1930s, OSH began using insulin coma and Metrazol shock treatments. By the mid 1940s, these were surpassed by the use of Electric Convulsive Shock therapy (ECT). The introduction of new drug therapies cut the use of ECT in half by 1960.”
More museum exhibit photo tours
Museum of Mental Health: Overview (photo diary)
Museums 101: Japanese internment camp art (photo diary)
Willamette Heritage Center: Waterpower runs a woolen mill (photo diary)
Lake Chelan Historical Society: Homestead Cabin (photo diary)
Thomas Kay Woolen Mill: Finishing room (photo diary)
Museums 101: Forest Service radios (photo diary)
Museums 101: A collection of medicine bottles (photo diary)
Museums 101: Household items in the Stevensville Historical Museum (photo diary)