Jane's Illness: What Did Community & Church Offer?
Image: Unsplash This is the sixth post in this series about Jane Darragh Cassidy's illness. Catch up with the first five posts here: Maria Jane Darragh's Illness: Researching Acute Mania in 19th Century Ontario Next Steps in Researching Jane Darragh's Diagnosis Jane's Illness: What Did Acute Mania Look Like in the 19th Century? Jane's Illness: Home Life, Beginnings of Mania, and Mental Illness as a Cause of Death Jane's Illness: Home Care, Her Doctor, and Her Caretakers In the past few weeks, I've been looking at my great-great-grandmother Jane Darragh Cassidy's cause of death—acute mania. We've learned that Jane was not institutionalized for her illness but rather cared for at home as was usually a first option. Her physician, Dr. John Sheahan, was newly graduated from the University of Toronto and opened an office in St. Catharines in 1896, just a few years before Jane fell ill. He possibly knew the most advanced treatments for Jane and ...
