World’s oldest psychiatric hospital opens new museum
The world's oldest psychiatric institution, the Bethlem Royal Hospital outside London, this week opened a new museum and art gallery charting the evolution in the treatment of mental disorders. The original hospital was founded in 1247 in what is now central London and the name spawned the English word "bedlam" meaning chaos and madness. In the 18th century visitors could pay to gawk at the hospital's patients and, three centuries later, stereotypes about mental illness still abound. "The museum is to do with challenging the stigma around mental health and one of the main ways you can do that is actually get people to walk onto the site and realise that this is not a frightening, threatening and dark place," Victoria Northwood, head of the Archives and Museum, told AFP.
