Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 40, Number 38, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 January 1908 — Novel Treatment for Insanity. [ARTICLE]

Novel Treatment for Insanity.

Dr. Henry S. Atkins. superintendent of the St. Louis Asylum for the Insane, has been testing an entirely new course of treatment for mild eases of insanity among the woman patients; tt "being noth-, ing more or less than a Chrisfmas shopping expedition. It is his theory that anything which occupies the mind pleasantly without causing too much excitement must be beneficial. —He therefore

sent about twenty of his patients under the charge of trained nurses, and each supplied with a moderate amount of money, to the department stores. The entire party was ro.dressed and conducted that no intimatjdn jvas given of its real nature, and this was not suspected by the othey shoppers, the unfortunate women deporting themselves in the most conventional and natural way possible. Luncheon wns eaten at the restaurant, which ail enjoyed, and it was with reluctance, but no attempt at resistance, that they returned to their quarters la the asylum.