Mental illness and rehabilitation in early nineteenth-century Ireland: the case of Charles Stock.

The case of a sixteen-year-old youth is presented on the basis of correspondence over the years 1806 to 1813. His initial breakdown was probably due to hebephrenic schizophrenia, but clinical detail is defective and the evidence is chiefly about the difficulties of recovery and rehabilitation. The case is discussed in relation to the treatment he received and against the background of provision for insanity and psychiatric methods and ideas in Ireland during the period.