Historical Event Medicine

History of mental asylums in India

The earliest mental hospital was established at Bombay in 1745, which could accommodate only 30 mentally-abled patients. The first government run lunatic asylum was set-up, especially for ridiculous soldiers, at Monghyr in Bihar on 17 April 1795. During that period, excited patients were treated with opium, hot baths, sometimes, leeches were applied to suck their blood and even music was also used as a mode of therapy to calm down them.