In the 11th century a shrine to St. Dymphna, the patron saint of the insane, was established in Gheel, Belgium (Carrier & Tomlinson, 1996; Dock, 1920; Noll, 2007; Van Walsum, 2004). Dymphna was originally an Irish princess, daughter of Damon (Farmer, 1997; Jiang, 2002). He had attempted clumsy sexual advances towards her after her mother had died. Damon had lost his reason at the death of his wife. As a result Dymphna had fled to Gheel with her confessor, fellow saint Gerebemus (Kirsch, 1909; Van Walsum, 2004). However, Damon’s followers soon tracked her down, and Damon himself had gone to Gheel to try and persuade his daughter to return to Ireland. When she refused, he flew into a rage and decapitated her. He had already ordered his troops to kill Gerebemus (Van Walsum, 2004). Tradition places this at about 650 AD (Jiang, 2002). The local people buried the two bodies, and the shrine so produced soon became famous throughout Europe for miraculous cures for insanity (Van Walsum, 2004). By the 14th century so many people were going to Gheel for cures that an infirmary had to be built (Tuke, 1892). Alongside this, mentally ill pilgrims were housed with local residents (Dock, 1920; Halliday, 1828; Hills, 1901; Letchworth, 1889; New York Times, 1875; Shorter, 1997; Walsh, 1910), possibly the world’s first example of care in the community for the mentally ill. In the 1930s it was estimated that as many as four thousand people were under this form of community care at Gheel (Hinshaw, 2007; Noll, 2007). By 1979 this number had dropped to around 1399 (Carrier & Tomlinson, 1996). Attempts to replicate this system were made (Van Walsum, 2004) in both Britain and the United States during the 19th century, under the epithet “the cottage system”. However, as Noll (2007) points out no successful long-term program based on the Gheel model has ever been devised. St. Dymphna has a feast day on 15th May (Farmer, 1997; Jiang, 2002), the supposed day of her death. According to Walsh (1910), shrines similar to that of St. Dymphna were set up in Ireland, Scotland, England, Germany and France, often with their own patron saints.
St. Dymphna
References:
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Dock, L.L. (1920). A short history of nursing from the earliest times to the present day. New York, NY: G.P. Putnam’s Sons.
Farmer, D.H. (1997). The Oxford dictionary of saints. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
Halliday, A. (1828). A general view of the present state of lunatics, and lunatic asylums, in Great Britain and Ireland and in some other kingdoms. London, England: Thomas and George Underwood.
Hills, F.L. (1901). Psychiatry – ancient, medieval and modern. The Popular Science Monthly 59, 3, 31-48.
Hinshaw, S.P. (2007). The mark of shame: Stigma of mental illness and an agenda for change. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
Jiang, W. (2002). Patron saint of the mentally ill and epileptic: Saint Dymphna. Retrieved from http://www.geocities.com/kd3qc/saintdymphna.html
Kirsch, J.P. (1909). St. Dymphna. In The Catholic encyclopedia. New York, NY: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved from New Advent http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05221b.htm
Letchworth, W.P. (1889). The insane in foreign countries. New York, NY: G.P. Putnam’s Sons.
New York Times (1875). Lunacy abroad: A colony of madmen. Retrieved from http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=950DE4DB133BEF34BC4B52DFB667838E669FDE
Noll, R. (2007). The encyclopedia of schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders. (3rd edition). New York, NY: Facts on File Inc.
Shorter, E. (1997). A history of psychiatry: From the era of the asylum to the age of Prozac. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.
Tuke, D.H. (1892). A dictionary of psychological medicine. Philadelphia, PA: P. Blakiston Son & Co.
Van Walsum, K.L. (2004). Nos malades: three examples of Christian influences in care for the insane in pre-Revolutionary France and Belgium. Journal of Psychology and Christianity 23, 3, 219-233.
Walsh, J.J. (1910). Asylums and Care for the Insane. In The Catholic encyclopedia. New York, NY: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved from http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08038b.htm
Farmer, D.H. (1997). The Oxford dictionary of saints. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
Halliday, A. (1828). A general view of the present state of lunatics, and lunatic asylums, in Great Britain and Ireland and in some other kingdoms. London, England: Thomas and George Underwood.
Hills, F.L. (1901). Psychiatry – ancient, medieval and modern. The Popular Science Monthly 59, 3, 31-48.
Hinshaw, S.P. (2007). The mark of shame: Stigma of mental illness and an agenda for change. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.
Jiang, W. (2002). Patron saint of the mentally ill and epileptic: Saint Dymphna. Retrieved from http://www.geocities.com/kd3qc/saintdymphna.html
Kirsch, J.P. (1909). St. Dymphna. In The Catholic encyclopedia. New York, NY: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved from New Advent http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/05221b.htm
Letchworth, W.P. (1889). The insane in foreign countries. New York, NY: G.P. Putnam’s Sons.
New York Times (1875). Lunacy abroad: A colony of madmen. Retrieved from http://query.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=950DE4DB133BEF34BC4B52DFB667838E669FDE
Noll, R. (2007). The encyclopedia of schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders. (3rd edition). New York, NY: Facts on File Inc.
Shorter, E. (1997). A history of psychiatry: From the era of the asylum to the age of Prozac. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.
Tuke, D.H. (1892). A dictionary of psychological medicine. Philadelphia, PA: P. Blakiston Son & Co.
Van Walsum, K.L. (2004). Nos malades: three examples of Christian influences in care for the insane in pre-Revolutionary France and Belgium. Journal of Psychology and Christianity 23, 3, 219-233.
Walsh, J.J. (1910). Asylums and Care for the Insane. In The Catholic encyclopedia. New York, NY: Robert Appleton Company. Retrieved from http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/08038b.htm
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