Imbecile in 1871

[mrsruz]

Have just come across a woman who married in 1866 & is recorded on the 1871 census as an imbecile. Seems a bit harsh as my guess would be that she had lost a baby & was suffering from post natal depression.
The Victorians were a bit unkind about psychiatric problems weren't they.
The poor woman died in 1873, childless & her widower married her brother's widow.
Nothing like keeping it in the family is there.
Would it have been normal to label the poor woman as an imbecile.
I always understood that an imbecile was disabled from birth, but if that had been so in this case, her husband would hardly have married her.........unless it was a case like in Jane Eyre.

[KGarrad]

Enumerators were told when and how to use words like idiot, imbecile, lunatic and feeble-minded.

See a previous discussion here (Stan's reply #2 in particular):
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=366498.18

[stanmapstone]

The exact definitions of terms such as 'lunatic', 'imbecile', 'idiot' and 'feeble-minded' are extremely problematic.
According to the 1881 Census Report;
No accurate line of demarcation can be drawn between the several conditions indicated by these terms. Speaking generally, however, the term idiot is applied in popular usage simply to those who suffer from congenital mental deficiency, and the term imbecile to persons who have fallen in later life into a state of chronic dementia. But it is certain that neither this nor any other definite distinction between the terms was rigorously observed in the schedules, and consequently no attempt has been made by us to separate imbeciles from idiots. The term lunatic also is used with some vagueness, and probably some persons suffering from congenital idiocy, and many more suffering from dementia, were returned under this name.
Considering that householders, who could be illiterate, were being asked to give information about medical disabilities without any definition of the terms being used the answers should be treated with caution. Also they would be unwilling to admit  that anyone in the family had medical disabilities.

Stan

[Rena]

There were so many dangerous minerals such as lead in manufacturing processes and presumably in the air that I tend not to be alarmed when I see an ancestor described in the terms they used in days gone by.

"  case study on adult monozygotic twins with lead poisoning, both who were retired painters, had typical patterns of cognitive difficulties following chronic lead exposure. This pattern included predominant impairments in the domains of attention/executive function, visuospatial/visual motor functioning, short-term memory, and (for one of the brothers) confusion and fatigue. After exposure to toxicants such as lead in adulthood, cognitive deficits tend to be specific, not generalized, "

[mrsruz]

Thanks everyone who replied.
It's helpful information to keep for future reference.

Marion