• bobs_monkey@lemm.ee
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    11 months ago

    Pretty sure in the 1700’s if they though you were cuckoo, they just strung you up from a tree

    • aeronmelon@lemm.ee
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      11 months ago

      Probably that, too.

      The thing is about 20 years ago I toured a preserved colonial town in New England (I forget the name, it was in Virginia) and there was a book on display which was an inpatient log for a mental ward. And some of the entries’ reason for admission was “masterbation”.

      • UnpledgedCatnapTipper@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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        11 months ago

        By the way, New England is specifically the northeast states of Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Rhode Island! Virginia was one of the English colonies but isn’t part of New England.

        • aeronmelon@lemm.ee
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          11 months ago

          Good question, not sure. I don’t even remember what was nearby.

          looks at some pictures

          Could be, but then all English towns looked the same back then. I don’t remember any buildings quite that big though.

    • SeaJ@lemm.ee
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      11 months ago

      Depends. If you were crazy and they thought you were harmful, then probably yes. They also had sanitariums.

      It was also not densely populated. It was pretty easy to simply banish someone and they would just fuck off to be on their own.