Defining Madness

Whilst looking through the records for the Gloucester Asylum in particular the case book there are times when you wonder what is classed as madness in the time of the First World War?
There are two cases which turned up which showed the sublime and the ridiculous.
The sublime - and it raises the question as to what treatment did he receive - is the soldier who's initial entry said the following:
"Suffers from incoherent ramblings and says that all he wants is to be shown a little kindness" Personally I think that is all any of us want in this world.
The ridiculous is very much stranger and again the initial entry for the patient says:
"Sings a lot and says this is because he was raised on bird seed. Also claims to be able to train animals. Has had most success he claims recently with training winkles" Strangely these aren't listed as "incoherent ramblings".
The case book lists almost 40 soldiers who were patients in the Horton Road asylum in 1917 - all suffering from different mental health problems from what "hearing voices" to what would now be classed as depression.