tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post6943921698348848695..comments2023-10-12T02:21:40.102-07:00Comments on English Historical Fiction Authors: Madness in their Method: Water therapy in Georgian and Regency timesDebra Brownhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03256313302199653185noreply@blogger.comBlogger18125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-54522204960578933172012-02-03T00:00:54.184-08:002012-02-03T00:00:54.184-08:00So true, Grace, re the blood letting similarity. D...So true, Grace, re the blood letting similarity. Draining away the ill humors which was assumed to be in the blood, and almost killing the patient into the bargain!Lucinda Branthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09773969616612019527noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-64534971403024128732012-02-02T07:24:30.839-08:002012-02-02T07:24:30.839-08:00Freezing just thinking about it!
In a bizarre way...Freezing just thinking about it! <br />In a bizarre way, I can see where the physicians were coming from - almost killing the patient, to kill the bad humour within them. It's on a theme with blood letting - draining out the poison from the blood - not that that was a great idea either! <br />G xGrace Elliothttp://graceelliot-author.blogspot.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-22254554369489551172012-02-01T15:00:42.908-08:002012-02-01T15:00:42.908-08:00Horrifying - no doubt about it! Glad you liked the...Horrifying - no doubt about it! Glad you liked the article, Helen.: - )Lucinda Branthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09773969616612019527noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-45920477972894533612012-02-01T07:35:27.630-08:002012-02-01T07:35:27.630-08:00Gah! Simply horrifying. But your article is lovely...Gah! Simply horrifying. But your article is lovely :)Helen Hansonhttp://www.helenhanson.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-86703203612386583302012-01-31T20:52:17.723-08:002012-01-31T20:52:17.723-08:00Thank you so much for stopping by, my lady. So gla...Thank you so much for stopping by, my lady. So glad you enjoyed it (if that's the right word given the topic!) and I am delighted with the "two pipes up"! : - )Lucinda Branthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09773969616612019527noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-44162833549341990992012-01-31T18:21:31.301-08:002012-01-31T18:21:31.301-08:00As quite the fan of baths, in particular, may I de...As quite the fan of baths, in particular, may I declare this brilliant piece as 'Two pipes up!' The incomparable Lucinda Brant always showers us with pure delight!Lady A~https://www.blogger.com/profile/08242829250018168309noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-29962374057222030592012-01-31T14:48:29.889-08:002012-01-31T14:48:29.889-08:00Hi Sophia, I hope you enjoyed AUTUMN DUCHESS despi...Hi Sophia, I hope you enjoyed AUTUMN DUCHESS despite the water therapy treatment used by that creepy dandy Sir Titus!<br />Yes, I agree, it was horrific but most physicians who advocated water therapy in the way I describe were doing so in the genuine belief that they could cure the patient or at least relieve them of their inner demons. There was no suggestion that they meant to be cruel or sadistic. Roy Porter makes this comment, and my example of Patrick Blair is the one Porter uses to show that Blair meant to be cruel in his treatment of women, and thus he was the exception.<br />In AUTUMN DUCHESS Sir Titus believes he can "cure" married women of their melancholia - that he was also a complete sleeze bucket bears no resemblance to most physicians when treating patients - although truth, as they say, is stranger than fiction, and physicians over stepping the boundary of the Dr/patient relationship does happen - and is a whole other story! Thanks for stopping by.Lucinda Branthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09773969616612019527noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-7629671385208885772012-01-31T14:40:10.900-08:002012-01-31T14:40:10.900-08:00I agree, M.M. the nicer and far less extreme side ...I agree, M.M. the nicer and far less extreme side of water therapy was indeed the spas at Bath and Tunbridge Wells, as well as those in Europe – used by people who could afford the time and who were not considered by their relatives to be raging lunatics, or recalcitrant and thus required being locked up. I dare say, too, there were far worse things done to those poor people shut away in asylums than water therapy! Thanks for stopping by.Lucinda Branthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09773969616612019527noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-49900296959611423682012-01-31T14:35:47.010-08:002012-01-31T14:35:47.010-08:00Thanks, Tim. Glad you enjoyed the article. I don&#...Thanks, Tim. Glad you enjoyed the article. I don't disagree with you regarding there were positive aspects of water therapy or indeed that there were physicians who advocated a more humane use of such methods. But what we consider humane in the 21stC is far different from what was considered humane in Georgian times compared to Victorian times etc etc. We have come a long, long way, thank goodness!<br />As regards Charles Darwin - have you read what he subjected himself (and his daughter) to in regards to water therapy???!! Not me! <br />I do like Gully's holistic approach with the healthy food, country walks and no alcohol mixed in with his water therapy. : - )Lucinda Branthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09773969616612019527noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-34484519120528065892012-01-31T14:27:21.136-08:002012-01-31T14:27:21.136-08:00Hi Lauren! Thank you. Yes, we have come a long way...Hi Lauren! Thank you. Yes, we have come a long way - and it wasn't that long ago, either! People with depression and even schizophrenia were locked away from society right up until the 1970s!Lucinda Branthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09773969616612019527noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-50072356373794469062012-01-31T14:22:45.517-08:002012-01-31T14:22:45.517-08:00Hi Tess, thanks for stopping by. Yes, we would con...Hi Tess, thanks for stopping by. Yes, we would consider it torture today, but for many in the Eighteenth Century with a family member who was depressed or mad or who were just considered a misfit, any method a physician suggested that might offer hope of recovery was worth pursuing. And these were people who could afford the physician's fee! The poor were left alone to roam unless considered dangerous and then they were locked up.Lucinda Branthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09773969616612019527noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-90085352746002573462012-01-31T14:17:17.931-08:002012-01-31T14:17:17.931-08:00Thanks, Joanna. Although from what I've read, ...Thanks, Joanna. Although from what I've read, water therapy wasn't half as bad as some Eighteenth Century "techniques" used by families and their physicians to control recalcitrant females. Thanks for stopping by!Lucinda Branthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09773969616612019527noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-78715874384272027512012-01-31T12:56:17.212-08:002012-01-31T12:56:17.212-08:00I read the 'Autumn Duchess' and was appall...I read the 'Autumn Duchess' and was appalled at the description and this just makes it sound even more horrific.<br /><br />Thanks for the share!Sophia Rosehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07909417504496472472noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-3221375976837974742012-01-31T11:21:16.156-08:002012-01-31T11:21:16.156-08:00There is a nicer side to the water treatments, or ...There is a nicer side to the water treatments, or less extreme...and that's taking the hot baths at spas like Bath...or drinking the waters there--they taste a little minerally, but not too bad. There are a number of spas like Bath in Germany too--and they were very popular--Beethoven went to one.M.M. Bennettshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07055653337660429885noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-69361264655246614952012-01-31T10:17:06.327-08:002012-01-31T10:17:06.327-08:00Amazing! It seems waterboarding has a long history...Amazing! It seems waterboarding has a long history! But on the slightly more positive side, there were Victorian doctors who advocated versions of this too. Dr James Gully, for example, had a hospital in Buxton where he dispensed a 'water cure' which involved cold baths, wrapping his patients in cold and hot towels, as well as healthy food, country walks and abstaining from alcohol - what we might call 'detox' today, perhaps. Gully seems to have been a relatively humane practitioner, and was very successful. Among his more famous patients were Charles Darwin, Charles Dickens and Florence Nightingale. Unfortunately, in his mid sixties, he fell in love with a young patient, Florence Ricardo, and the two of them were eventually involved in the celebrated Victorian murder mystery, the mysterious death of Florence's second husband, Charles Bravo, which I wrote about in a short book for OUP last year. <br /><br />But this is a fascinating blog post, Lucinda. I wonder if there are connections, on the positive side, with the development of sea bathing, which is, after all, very stimulating, particularly in Britain. Thogh whether it cures madness, or promotes it - particularly at Christmas time - is a moot point!Tim Vicaryhttp://www.timvicary.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-1718068835402672752012-01-31T09:39:38.517-08:002012-01-31T09:39:38.517-08:00We truly have come a long way. What a hideous pro...We truly have come a long way. What a hideous prospect this would have been! Excellent article, Lucinda.Lauren Gilberthttp://www.heyerwood.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-39517531322716903472012-01-31T09:09:34.934-08:002012-01-31T09:09:34.934-08:00What torture!!!! Interesting post, Lucinda...thos...What torture!!!! Interesting post, Lucinda...those poor people!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2456802468539868519.post-80381412674463846242012-01-31T05:59:34.350-08:002012-01-31T05:59:34.350-08:00As if the plight of women in the 18th Century wasn...As if the plight of women in the 18th Century wasn't awful enough! Truly a chilling commentary.Joanna Waughhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08053211782268427159noreply@blogger.com