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Originally posted by Elise,LadyofLancaster@Nov 16th, 2003 - 12:43 am
Just to clarify, Was Alice indeed Schizophrenic and had to be institutionalised at some point in her life?
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Alice did in deed spend many years in an institution after her marriage to Andrew began to deteriate. Its been a while since I read the book now but I am sure however it was not Schizophrenia which is a very specific type of mental illness. Alice was of course 'ill' at the very early stages of Mental Health Care as we know it today and they did not understand or even have catagorised the types of 'illness' that we have now. I belive Alice was actualy suffering from what we would now call Clinical Depression and today would be sent home with a course of anti-depresants. I dont think she was 'mad,' but no one understood that depression and how it makes people behave and feel.
Besides one of her best lines came from just prior to her admitance to the institution when she said "I cant come, Im having lunch with Jesus." Was this her illness or did she simply have a fantastic whit?