Fifties Dive

Psychiatrists in the 1950's  I do like psychiatrist attitude towards their patients especially the guy from the YouTube channel named, "Pika Grape Snack."  They have great content they post regarding many patients with mental disabilities.  The man in these films that I have found, I like that he talks about them like they are human beings and not people who are disgraceful or have something terribly wrong with them.  Some people from this time period may think of people with mental disabilities like this since it is not widely known like they are today.  The psychiatrist speaks calmly to them and tries to understand them rather make fun of them or immediately dismiss them. He is actually interested in getting them help and finding out why they have these specific mental disabilities. Why Psychiatrists Were Disliked in This Time Period One thing I did not like though is their medical solutions to these mental issues such as using shock treatment or locking patie...

The psychiatrist asks this older woman to sit across from him and watches her carefully. What I like about this man is that he talks to this woman humanely and calmly as if he really does want to help her. This older woman seems to be anxious and stumbles over her words and you can't help but feel as if you want to comfort her. He keeps talking about how two months ago that she talked a lot and how she was feeling cheerful.  How she has changed since then and asks her if there is anything she'd like to do. This woman seems so down and shamed of her behavior it seems like to be wanting to ask for help from this psychiatrist.  The most famous line she says is, "I don't know." Then she keeps looking at the floor and looks as if she is about to be scolded by this authority figure.  He keeps asking her questions about what she does in her days, what she feels, and what would she would like to do in this moment in the film.  The psychiatrist talks about treatment and sh...

What I love about this Psychiatric interview is that the medical professional does not judge this woman at all but has patience and talks to her kindly.  It seems as if he knows she's having a rough time and only wants to help her as she seems lost and uninterested in anything in life but the mention of death. To others she may seem as if she is a normal person without a chemical imbalance in her brain making her struggle internally but do not dismiss her as if she is faking or just wants attention.  I know many people from this 1950's era would disagree with this statement but mental illnesses should be taken more seriously and should have a fragile approach.  At the next part of the scene they show this woman's wrists that are covered in bandages but the interviewer does not ask about them right away only later in the film.   He goes onto ask questions about her personal life, what she does in the day, how she feels, and if she eats enough. When explaining how...

Illnesses from the 50's were not as bad as the Spanish flu, which I assume was in the early 1900's. The common illnesses for people back in the 1950's were scarlet fever, diphtheria, typhoid fever, yellow fever, rheumatic fever, pellagra, influenza, smallpox, and cholera.  For some people it was not surprising or was even expected that children died from measles or from a whooping cough. A doctor from Chicago states that these illnesses from the 50s were feared as much as the public feared AIDS back in the 80's or 90's. When someone catches the scarlet fever they do not feel good at all, they become pale, have a red rash, and a pallor around the mouth. After this they just die.  As you know many people in this time period were cautious about illnesses like the pandemic today.  Although there were still many people who did not take diseases seriously nor believed in them since they have not gotten them yet. Others were forgetful about these illnesses or were not care...

1) The Boogie Woogie This type of dance style is like swing dancing that is fast and this was also labeled as, "Jump Swing." This dance is usually with the music genre the blues.  Along with the Boogie Woogie music with fast tempos. The dance includes jumping, hopping, stomping, and much more. 2) The Bop The Bop dance is mixed with a jazz genre and is like the Jitterbug in a sense. This style of dance was mentioned more for teenagers and young adults.  The Bop definition came from the jazzy tunes from the 1940's. This dance move used many moves as he swing and was usually done with almost no touching too. 3) The Bunny Hop This dance move became a big hit during the 1950's. It was danced to by Ray Anthony, which came out in 1952 and this included a step by step guide on how to do this dance move.  To do this dance style all you need is the energy to do it and to make sure you do not break any bones. This dance move is pretty simple. 4) The Chalypso This type of dance w...

Cocaine is a stimulant drug that is made from leave of the South American coca plant.  Many people during the 1950's people did not use cocaine that much because it was outlawed around the era of 1914.  During this time it was said that African Americans were the ones who were the dangerous criminals since they used this drug the most.  The reason cocaine became illegal was because the community feared that southern women were in mortal danger of being attacked by cocaine African American men.  It was the Harrison Act that became the law and one of the first pieces of American legislation on the issue of drug regulation.  What shocked me to find out was the use of cocaine in soda and opium products. Many people in this era just took them without a second thought.  They did not know the harsh effects it has on the body now and how it makes you look older and unhealthy. Although Cocaine was banned many people were still using it and secretly snorting it all t...

It is no surprise that the 1950's did so bad with health in general. This is definitely their downfall in this era. The ways or actions they did to try and cure their patients seems so much like torture.  Some good examples are how they used to leave their patients in a solid big metal bathtub and physically lock them in, shocked them, did blind brain surgery, and more.  I read some articles saying they whipped these patients and were not taken care of in good conditions either.  In the 50's, it seemed that physical health was of toddler age but on the other hand they had to have experience to see what helps and does not help patients.  During the war era, many doctors or nurses had to cut off their patients legs and arms because they did not know who to stich them back up or get an infection out.  One thing about knowing all this information is that I feel so sorry for everyone in this era who had a serious physical or mental illness.  Some patients were t...

During the 1950's women got married way early in life and went into wife life the rest of their lifespans.  At least most of the women did and even though it was frowned upon some couples got divorced. Many people who did separate were considered a disgrace but mostly went after women for not maintaining the relationship than the men. If a man got married again, they supported them but for women it was not always the case. The statistics from back in the 50's of couples who got divorces were in the medium percentage of everyone in the United States.  It is said, that women felt immense pressure to focus their goals on getting married and having a nice wedding ring.  These aspirations did not focus on whether the husband would be a good and unchanged man in the future or if he would leave you for another woman.  This was all about the fairytale of having love and looking so happy and successful on the outside. In the 1950's, the marriages in the U.S. were rated so hig...

This video starts off with a medical doctor reacting to 1950's health films. As usual they use a narrator over the film. I would it was the trend back in the 50's to use narration for everything and I do like it in my opinion.  It starts off with the film of a young boy running with his dog and the reactor seems amused by this concept.  He pokes fun at the dogs name which was Mr.dorag. I have to agree that naming your dog this name is odd but it is cute as well.  Moves onto how back in the day there was an awareness for kids not to get overtired from playing too much outside.  In today's world children are more at home with their iPads or watching television all day and not ever outside anymore. This doesn't speak for all children but the majority.  The next film that should be discussed is how people used singing in commercials to spread awareness or to go along with a product someone is selling. Which is not uncommon as we still use this tactic today but not a...

William Dale Archerd was born on May 5th, 1912. He came into the world in Dardanelle, Arkansas, United States.  Archerd was labeled as an American serial killer who killed three people with insulin injections from 1956 to 1966 in California.  It is said that he was the first to be convicted of the use of insulin as a murder weapon in the United States and it is theorized in three more cases.  William early life consisted of him being interested in medicine but did not have the discipline to be a doctor that dealt with medicine nor had the money to go through college. He did work in a mental hospital from 1940 through 1941 as an assistant where patients were treated with insulin shock therapies.  I would assume this is where he got his love of insulin came in and gave him the idea to want to experiment on his victims. During 1950, Archerd was convicted to five years on probation for possession of morphine in San Francisco.  As time went on he was parole was revok...

The mental illnesses during the 1950’s were definitely different than procedures than those of today. They used hydrotherapy, metrazol convulsion, electroshock therapy, fever therapy, insulin, etc. Patients during this era had electroshock therapy twice a week for both genders. What broke my heart was how researchers described when they got the patients for their treatment they would beg, plead, cry, and resisted just going to this specific room. They also wrote down how they saw the look of terror on their patients faces and how they felt like criminals being in these electric chairs. These people who were in the chairs were shocked until they were unconscious. It was noted that one assistant put a rubber heel in the patients mouths so they would not chew their tongue during this procedure. Other assistants had to hold down those who were being electrocuted and the only thing that was comforting was seeing some of quitter or more controlled patients calming the terror-st...

What stays persistent throughout history is people using diaries to write their feelings out and what they did for the day. This was the same for letters until technology became more prevalent.  Many people wrote letters to their loved ones from different states, letters or postcards sent to friends, or condolences or congratulations cards. Since technology had advanced more ways for people to communicate in less time and hassle. People do not send out letters as much anymore. This is not the case for diaries though, they may not be popular as they once were back in the day, but it was still a way to write anything out to free your mind. I saw this one YouTube video where a murder happened where this women’s nephew murdered her husband and investigators found good solid evidence in the husbands diary of clues of who his killer was. He wrote down his feelings of fear he felt for his wife’s nephew since he was getting many death threats. This whole trial was in the late 60’...

  During the 1950’s, more than half a million people in the United States were in mental asylums and lots of them were in there for life.  At one point, there was not even enough beds for all the patients being admitted. These places were so widely supported and were deemed as helpful for those with mental illnesses. At least by societies standards. Many babies are put into these asylums for the slightest thing along with children. Almost everyone was labeled as a person with a disability. Mental asylums at this time period were promoted as a safe space for all ages of people to get treatment for their illnesses. This was not the case at all. Many people who went to these asylums spoke about how it was worse than being locked up in prison or jail. How they were treated as if they were the scum of the earth. Doctors and nurses had no respect for them as their patients. One person in particular stated that there was a lot of abuse going on behind closed doors in these ...