St Luke's Hospital for Lunatics

St. Luke's Hospital for Lunatics was established in 1751 as a direct challenge to the notorious conditions at the nearby Bethlem Royal Hospital, or Bedlam. Its founders, led by physician William Battie, were disgusted by the public spectacle of patient suffering that Bedlam permitted. One of the very first rules of the new hospital was that patients were never to be exposed to public view. This policy signaled a shift toward shielding the mentally ill from the curiosity and cruelty of the outside world, setting a precedent for privacy in psychiatric care.