Editor’s note: The following was published in the Summer 2018 Museum Graphic magazine, a puiblication of the Saint Joseph Museums. You can support by becoming a member and donating to St. Joseph Museums, P.O. Box 8096, St. Joseph, MO 64508.
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In 1903, a young woman we’ll call “Mary” was admitted to the State Hospital #2 in St. Joseph. Hospital staff noted use of cocaine and morphine as the cause for her admittance. She was not alone. From the 1880s to 1914 there was an increase of white middle-to-upper class opiate-addicted women admitted to the State Hospital for “morphinism.” An autopsy performed when “Mary” died at the State Hospital in 1910 revealed 1,443 objects contained in her stomach. This “stomach contents display” is one of the Glore Psychiatric Museum’s most well-known exhibits.
This year the Glore Psychiatric Museum celebrates its 50th anniversary. The museum’s mission is two-fold: first, to chronicle the history of State Hospital #2 and the care it provided to patients; and second, in so telling, to reduce the stigma associated with mental illness and increase understanding and compassion for those who suffer from it.
Since its opening in 1874, many of the patients at the State Hospital suffered from addiction issues. Often those admitted struggled with addiction to opiates such as heroin and morphine. These drugs, derived from the opium poppy, have been around for a long time. The intense feelings of pleasure and well-being brought on by these substances make them particularly addictive.
The staff at State Hospital #2 would have contended primarily with addiction to morphine and heroin. Both drugs were developed in the 19th century. Morphine, developed in 1804, was used heavily by doctors during the Civil War to help combat the pain of battlefield injuries. Thousands of soldiers became addicted after treatment. A German pharmacist invented heroin in 1898. He gave it its name because the volunteer test subjects who took the drug reported that it made them feel “heroic.”
It took some time for doctors to realize the addictive nature of these drugs. Many health elixirs and tonics had heroin as a major ingredient. “Mary” may have even been given heroin as a treatment for morphine addiction at the State Hospital. Wide availability increased the number of addicted individuals. Hospital records reveal that even doctors were admitted who were addicted to these drugs. The problem became so profound that Congress felt the need to intervene, passing the Harrison Narcotics Act in 1914. This Act mandated doctors’ authorization to obtain heroin. Some unscrupulous physicians continued to prescribe the drug until eventually the dangers associated with its use became so well known that heroin as a prescription drug faded away.
Opiates produce an overwhelming need on the part of the addict to ingest the drug to experience the euphoric high. For any person who might have desired to kick their habit, the pain of withdrawal might well have driven them back to the drug. Controlling these serious withdrawal symptoms would have been the initial goal of the medical staff at the State Hospital when an addicted patient was admitted. Little treatment beyond restraint was available. Later, doctors began to use sedatives to mitigate the withdrawal symptoms.
The mission and the message of the Glore Psychiatric Museum is particularly important now, as the United States struggles with an ongoing epidemic of opioid addiction. (Opioids are synthetic drugs that are not derived from the opium poppy, but whose effects are similar to that of opiates). Since 2008, the number of people who have died due to opioid use has surpassed the number of deaths due to automobile accidents. In 2016 more than 42,000 died of opioid overdoses (as compared with about 40,000 traffic fatalities).
Misguided thinking within the medical community has contributed to our current crisis. Doctors believed that patients should experience no pain whatsoever and prescribed powerful opioids, such as codeine, hydrocodone and oxycodone, and opiates, such as oxycodone and oxycontin to achieve that end. This philosophy toward pain management led to a vast increase in addicted individuals in the U.S. These people have found it necessary to take increasing doses of opioids/opiates in order to achieve the desired euphoria and stave off the punishing withdrawal symptoms. These levels can reach the point where the body’s breathing reflex is suppressed, and the addict dies of asphyxia.
The current opioid crisis in the United States affects all of us and needs attention. As the long-time home of the State Hospital #2 and Glore Psychiatric Museum, St. Joseph is uniquely situated to lead the charge to help understand and tackle this problem. The State Hospital no longer accepts public patients for addiction treatment in St. Joseph; but we do have services that can help, and a community task force has been formed to find solutions.
If you or someone you know needs information, contact Narcotics Anonymous at (816) 233-3095. Opioid addiction harms our children, schools, economy, security, and future. We must — and we shall — put a stop to it.
Dr. Robert Corder
Former President of the St. Joseph Museums, Inc.