Think of a time in your life when you were struggling.

Maybe you were depressed or physically sick.

Maybe you were broke and couldn't find a job.

Or maybe, you were just angry about how unfair the world can be sometimes.

Imagine for a minute if someone had come to you when you were at your lowest and said,

I'll help you. Just come with me.

Now imagine they took you to a doctor or and said, I'll help you. Just come with me.

Now imagine they took you to a doctor or a judge, declared you insane, put you in a locked

room, and never let you out again.

That sounds like a nightmare, but it's not.

It's how America, and a lot of other places, used to deal with people believed to be mentally

ill or just poor and sick,

especially women.

Not that long ago, words like hysterical, insane, and lunatic weren't just terms used to describe

women.

They were clinical diagnoses used by actual doctors.

And far too often, for those unfortunate women given those labels, the simple act of arguing

that they were sane was all the evidence needed to prove they weren't.

That is, until one person came along who exposed everything.

On today's episode, Inside the Madhouse, this is a twist of history.

It's early morning on September 24, 1887, at the temporary home for females, number 84, a cheap

boarding house on 2nd Avenue in New York City.

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