This was my first experience in an insane asylum.

I did not know where I was, and thought it must be some horrible den of iniquity. My imagination framed the most horrible pictures. I thought it must be that I was brought to this place to die, and if I were not murdered outright, such usage would soon put an end to my existence. How long I remained in this “crib” I could give no idea from my own feelings; but it seemed to me countless ages of eternity. What I suffered in mind no language could express. Away from home and friends; no one whom I had ever seen, or to whom I could appeal for assistance; no one but this beastly attendant, with her forbidding looks. If I could have discovered one redeeming quality in her, I should have had hopes of something better; but as it was, I suffered untold agonies, both of mind and body. I was cramped into the “crib” in a very uncomfortable manner; for it did not seem long enough for me, and my head was lower than my feet. I was restrained so tight that it seemed to me my eyes were bursting from their sockets; and have no doubt the choking she gave me helped to bring about this state of feeling. As near as I can ascertain, I must have remained in this condition from one to three weeks, being taken out occasionally for change of bed. For some reason I could not speak aloud, nor even whisper; I could not articulate a syllable. Whether it was from the effects of the chloroform that had been given me, or some other cause, I know not; but I had good reasons to suppose it was the chloroform, for it affected my lungs to such an extent that I did not entirely recover from it in over two year. This chloroform was given me previous to my being taken to the asylum, and on the way there I was kept under its influence all the time. Some blame the person who took me there, and think he was bribed or hired to do it; but I had been drugged with belladonna and chloroform to such an extent that I had the appearance of being crazy at the time I was taken there.