Unmutual friend: How Charles Dickens tried to place his wife in an asylum | Hacker News Reader

Unmutual friend: How Charles Dickens tried to place his wife in an asylum

the-tls.co.uk

51 pointsokfine22 comments

Knowing all the allegations that surface against people these days, it's pretty chilling to think about all the stuff like this that was just swept under the rug or condoned for centuries.

And also scary is the reverse where everything you do when you're 12 now is likely going to be archived forever.

I am pretty sure 12 years old are incapable to cause as much sociopathic harm as adults with too much power.

I wouldn't be so sure.

While I agree that the scope of a twelve year old's power is limited, children can be unimaginably cruel.

Britain's youngest murderers were about 12. I'm not sure that proves anything.

10, even :-( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_James_Bulger

The prosecution successfully argued against the 'defense of infancy' based on things the kids said themselves admitted they had planned to do to the victim.

Adults kill too and can be more methodical about it. Adults kill more often then children on average.

Kids have a much more blurred sense of right and wrong, and concept of consequences. As such they have a lot fewer internal restraints.

They don't have full capabilities yet. Their ability to plan is lower and their impulse control too. There is not way for them to enact years long plan and build networks of supporters before acting.

I was not making a comparison.

When Kids Realize Their Whole Life Is Already Online:

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2019/02/when-...

From talking with various in-laws who grew up in middle-upper class East coast families, there was some very sketchy stuff happening before the 60s, especially to women. Things like lobotomies or institutionalizations, just to get an undesirable person out of the way.

Rosemary Kennedy's lobotomy might be the most high profile example. Or the Irish "Magdalene laundry" forced labor system.

This reminds me of Zack Snyder's Sucker Punch.

Care to tell us why/how?

It's a movie about an abused girl who is casually institutionalized and abused and finally lobotomized.

She escapes into a fantasy where she and her friends go on adventures.

Aha, yeah, I read a bit about that a while ago. Is that a spoiler?!

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0978764/

I'd wager that the vast majority of bad behaviour is still swept under the rug and/or condoned. Just because there has been a few visible cases doesn't mean we're eliminating the problem.

True. Up to the late 80s there were sexual reeducation camps you could send your kid in the US.

Today we still have scientology ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Pretty sure that "gay conversion camps" are still a thing in the USA.

Unfortunately, yes.

For very recent news...(sry for mobile link: https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.theguardian.com/world/2019/...)

Title: Man who worked as top 'conversion therapist' comes out as gay

[David Matheson is the man, in case you were aware of these groups during his time as an advocate]

I have to wonder though... Someone taking twice daily injections of morphine because of a little domestic neglect is not.. Well not all there.

Certainly it's not enough to be put into those horrible lunatic asylums but to be fair, people thought they worked. It would be roughly the equivalent of putting someone in therapy today I believe.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com