An editorial in the Williamsburg Virginia Gazette in the 1760s commented briefly on the murder of an elderly woman by the son of one of her neighbors. The editorial writer described the young man as a lunatic and called on the Virginia legislature to protect the public from any future violence by building and maintaining asylums. The legislature created America’s first lunatic asylum at Williamsburg in 1775. The editorial also helped reinforce the publicly held assumption that mental illness is always associated with unpredictable danger and violence. This 18th century editorial has come to mind numerous times since the recent shootings in Arizona.
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