Thomas Story Kirkbride

This article is about the American physician. For the British writer, see Thomas Story.
Thomas Story Kirkbride

Kirkbride in 1898
Born (1809-07-31)July 31, 1809
Morrisville, Pennsylvania
Died December 16, 1883(1883-12-16) (aged 74)
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Nationality American
Occupation Physician
Known for Kirkbride Plan

Thomas Story Kirkbride (July 31, 1809 - December 16, 1883) was a physician, advocate for the mentally ill, and founder of the Association of Medical Superintendents of American Institutions for the Insane (AMSAII), a precursor to the American Psychiatric Association.[1][2][3]

Early career

Born into a Quaker family in Morrisville, Pennsylvania.[4] He began a study of medicine in 1828 under Dr. Nicholas Belleville, of Trenton, New Jersey when he was eighteen.[5][6] After receiving a medical degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1832, Kirkbride had his own practice from 1835 to 1840.[5][6]

Psychiatry

In 1840 Kirkbride became superintendent of the Pennsylvania Hospital for the Insane.[1][5][6] In 1844, Kirkbride helped to found AMSAII, becoming president from 1862 to 1870.[2] Kirkbride pioneered what would be known as the Kirkbride Plan, to improve medical care for the insane, as a standardization for buildings that housed the patients.[7]

Kirkbride's influential work, On the Construction, Organization, and General Arrangements of Hospitals for the Insane with Some Remarks on Insanity and Its Treatment,[8] was published in 1854, and again in 1880.[5]

Kirkbride's ideas brought about mixed feelings in both patients and peers.[2][5] Some in the medical community saw his theories and ideas as stubbornly clinging to ideals that hindered medical progress,[2] while others supported his ideas, and saw them change the treatment philosophy for the mentally insane.[7] In his patients, he sometimes inspired fear and anger, even to the point that one attempted to murder him,[2] but he also believed that the mentally ill could be treated, and possibly cured, and in fact Kirkbride, after the death of his first wife, married a former patient.[2][5]

Kirkbride died of pneumonia on December 16, 1883 at his home at the Pennsylvania Hospital for the Insane.[2]

Kirkbride architecture

Kirkbride was an advocate of building hospitals for the mentally ill in a style which he believed promoted recovery and healing. This style was used on many late 19th century hospitals, including St. Elizabeths Hospital in Washington, D.C.[9] Many of these buildings, designed by leading architects of the time, are in ruins or decay.[10] An estate, now known as "The Village",[11] previously Traverse City State Hospital, was saved from destruction and beautifully restored.[9]

Personal life

Kirkbride was married to Ann West Jenks in 1839. Together, they had two children - Ann, born in 1840, and Joseph John, born in 1842.[12]

References

  1. 1 2 Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania (2008). "Dr. Thomas Story Kirkbride". University of Pennsylvania Health System. Retrieved November 28, 2008.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 KirkbrideBuildings.com (2008). "Dr. Thomas Story Kirkbride". Kirkbride Buildings. Retrieved November 28, 2008.
  3. ↑ Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania (2008). "The Story of the Magic Lantern". University of Pennsylvania Health System. Retrieved November 28, 2008.
  4. ↑ The American Journal of Insanity Vol. 55 p. 120 (1898)
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Tomes, Nancy (1994). The Art of Asylum-Keeping: Thomas Story Kirkbride and the origins of American Psychiatry. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 387. ISBN 0-8122-1539-7.
  6. 1 2 3 Richard E. Greenwood (1975). "Kirkbride's Hospital". University City Historical Society. Retrieved November 28, 2008.
  7. 1 2 TALA (2008). "Building as Cure". Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum. Retrieved November 28, 2008.
  8. ↑ On the Construction, Organization, and General Arrangements of Hospitals for the Insane with Some Remarks on Insanity and Its Treatment,
  9. 1 2 "The Kirkbride Connection" (Nov-Dec 2007) Old-House Journal p.45
  10. ↑ "Adventures in the Forbidden Zone" (Mar 2007) Popular Photography Vol.71, No.3 p.75
  11. ↑ The Village, Grand Traverse Commons
  12. ↑ Anne West Kirkbride
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