Medical Malpractice

When Were Mental Asylums First Created?

I need a time frame (ie. 1875-1985)? Name? Person in charge? Are there any today that have been around for a hundred years or so?

Public Comments

1. The first psychiatric hospitals and insane asylums were built in the medieval Islamic world as early as the 8th century. Muslim physicians and psychologists built the first ones in Baghdad from 705, followed by Fes in the early 8th century, and Cairo in 800. Other famous psychiatric hospitals were built in Damascus and Aleppo in 1270. Bethlem Royal Hospital (Bedlam) was the first known psychiatric hospital in Europe, founded in London in 1247. America's oldest psychiatric hospital which is still used today is the Friends Hospital, which was founded in 1813. Here is an article on it's history. http://www.friendshospitalonline.org/History.htm If that's no help, Wikipedia has a huge article on the history of psychiatric hospitals and how they were organised in different parts of the world. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychiatric_hospital#History Hope this was of some help.