Although no longer used in state hospitals, hydrotherapy is regaining popularity with the general public and may serve as an adjunct to pharmacological treatments to calm hospitalized patients in the future.

Was hydrotherapy a real thing?

Hydrotherapy was used to treat people with mental illness in the 19th and 20th centuries and before World War II, various forms of hydrotherapy were used to treat alcoholism.

What was hydrotherapy used for in asylums?

Exposing patients to baths or showers of warm water for an extended period of time often had a calming effect on them. For this reason, mental hospitals used hydrotherapy as a tool for treating mental illness.