Mysteries of Mental Illness

Experimental Treatments and the Rise of Eugenics

Clip | 5m 47s  | Video has closed captioning.

By the early 20th century, mental asylums had become extremely overcrowded, and very little was known about how to treat these patients. Out of view from the public eye, desperate doctors experimented with new treatments. When treatments failed, patients were labeled biologically defective, fueling the Eugenics program, and the involuntary sterilization of thousands of patients.