A Historic Treatment For Mental Illness, The Spinning Chair. #nopestalgia #history

Glanmore Presents A Historic Treatment For Mental Illness, The Spinning Chair. In the early 1800s a new treatment for mania and agitation developed. Strap the patient into a chair and rotate them! The theory was that by inducing vertigo and creating physical sensation the patient may be calmed. Some even thought the rotation may “reset” the nervous system. It is possible that some people would have found this helpful, but for most it was likely just a nauseating carnival ride at a time when they were already distressed. #nopestalgia #victorianmedicine #museum #museumtok #victorian #victoriantiktok #history #historytok #victorianera #victorianaesthetic #victorianfashion #victorianhouse #quinteareamuseums #quinte #bellevilleontario #discoverbelleville #southeasternontario #glanmore

24 Comments

  1. Next time I have a panic attack, I'm gonna stand in the living room and spin until I'm dizzy. I'll update you on how it goes.

    Update: Didn't take long, it's been a rough week. It…kinda helped? I wouldn't recommend a chair. The exercise felt nice, and the sensation was kinda grounding. I didn't spin for very long because it made the nausea of the panic attack worse, but the most effective part was that the dizziness forced me to sit down and take a damn breath, and distracted me a little from the panic. It didn't solve the problem, but it jostled me out of it a little and might have made it easier to calm down because it made me do things that actually help with a panic attack: take a deep breath, focus on something besides the panic, and lay down for a little while. If you're panicking, give a couple twirls, it's worth a shot.

    If you'll excuse me, I'm gonna lay down and breathe quietly.

  2. Reminds me of the methods used on King George III, who was probably Bipolar.

    Despite being King, his mental health crisis team (a Methodist priest and a few lads) had the power to restrain him, and would strap him into a chair when he went funny.

  3. I’m schizophrenic and spinning as violently as I can REALLY helps agitation, hallucinations, and general irritability. I can’t get myself going as fast as I want- patients back then similar to me probably saw a lot of benefit from this! I’ve been doing it since I was a kid, so the nausea was almost nonexistent.

  4. woah! since spinning is a common self-soothing technique for autistic people, this feels like it couldve been an early treatment technique for those on the spectrum who struggled with emotional regulation! i can imagine this would be quite upsetting/inhumane if it the treatment was applied without the patient fully agreeing to it though

Leave A Reply