Increase of Insanity in England
Some figures on the increase of insanity have recently been compiled in England, to which attention is directed by the press. Conditions there may be worse in this particular than in America and other countries, yet they must represent the general tendency in all civilized lands. The London correspondent of the Chicago Tribune says:— The annual report of the lunacy commissioners shows an enormous increase in madness in England and Wales. In 1859 the number of insane was 36,762, a proportion to the population of 1 in 536. There has been a steady increase up to Jan. 1, 1903, when the insane numbered 113,964, a proportion of 1 to 293 of the population. The rate of increase since 1894 is specially noted, the leap being from 92,067. There never had been such an increase in numbers of insane as in the year ending Dec. 31, 1902, the increase over 1901 being 3,251. The number of persons to become insane in 1902 alone was 22,581, almost 500 weekly. The increase is found almost entirely among pauper lunatics. The increase in 1902 in England was composed of private 188, criminal 48, pauper 3,015. Chief among the causes of this alarming increase is the use of alcoholic drinks, to which twenty-three per cent of all cases of insanity among males is due. The high tension of modern civilized life is also believed to be an important factor, though to what extent is not shown by figures. It is evident that at this rate of increase no very great lapse of time would be required to turn the world into a vast insane asylum, no longer suitable as an abode of rational beings.