This abandoned psychiatric hospital was originally founded in 1848 as a state lunatic asylum. It was built to provide the best treatment and comforting aid to the area’s mentally ill and criminally insane, however it would go on to do anything but that. And in fact, it pretty much ended up as the “posterchild” of the most infamous of all state run psychiatric institutions in the world. The different types of abuse and medical experimentations that the patients suffered at the hospital are jaw dropping to say the least, especially for today’s standards, but for some techniques this was from a much earlier time period when what is now seen as barbaric, was a regular form of medical practice back then. Founded by legendary social activist Miss Dorothea Dix in the mid 19th century, the institution was the first public mental hospital within the state, and the first mental hospital designed on the principle of the kirkbride plan, a complex style of interconnected buildings specifically designed and arranged to look like wings protruding from each side of one centrally located administrative building.
From its initial opening in 1848, the hospital quickly grew and by the 1900s it was treating several hundred patients annually. In the early 1900s it had became the victim of a tyrant madman medical director. Believing that infections were the key to mental illness, he had his staff remove teeth and various other body parts that might become infected from the hospital patients. His infamous legacy of countless fatalities and thousands of maimed and mutilated patients did not end with his death in 1933. In fact, removal of patients' teeth at the asylum was still the norm until the 1960s. In the 1940s, a psychiatrist at the hospital became known for his extremely high rates of organ removal in countless number of patients, causing a number of them to suffer in pain for so long that they would eventually pass away from blood loss and shock.
Although abuse and experimentation were quite commonplace among many of the countries state run psychiatric hospitals during that era, the amount and types of suffering that happened at this place were at an astronomical level, leading to the hospital solidifying itself as one of the most notorious of psychiatric hospitals in the world.
Throughout its history, the institution had played a crucial role in advancing the field of mental health care, but unfortunately, it came at the cost of countless lives. The hospital's formidable years were marked by overcrowding and substandard living conditions, as was all too common in mental health facilities at the time. Throughout the first half of the 20th century, the hospital had gained a terrifying reputation for the numerous medical experiments that the staff performed on their patients, as this was long before ethics and consent. The tragic and inhumane experimentations included direct exposure to infections and diseases, human radiation, injections of toxic chemicals, insulin shock therapy, pharmacology testing, electroshock therapy, and lobotomies. However, in the hospital’s heyday of the 1960’s, the population reached its peak of nearly 5,000 patients and this was during the time when sweeping reforms were implemented to improve the quality of care provided to patients, as the hospital began to face backlash for all the years of unchecked power and horrific patient living conditions, and of course the often brutal torture that many of them faced in those earlier years.
Despite the hospital being faced with several lawsuits for the years of abuse and neglect, by the turn of the millennium, it had re-established itself in the medical field and quickly gained a reputation as a leading psychiatric institution in the region, which still operates today.
The institution’s long and storied history, architectural significance, rich cultural heritage, and notable patients have made it a feature story in several films and works of literature, showcasing its impact on popular culture. The 2001 blockbuster biographical movie “A Beautiful Mind” portrays Russell Crowe as a brilliant minded mathematician who spent several years as a patient at the psychiatric hospital. Other noteworthy patients include several serial killers and domestic terrorists, all adding to its reputable status.
In conclusion, the hospital is deeply intertwined with the history of mental health care in the United States, making it a current symbol of progress and innovation in the field, but it would become more known for the things that happened here, the same things nightmares are made of.
And that’s going to take its to the end of today’s video on one of the worlds most notorious abandoned psychiatric hospitals. For more photos check out our website and AbandonedCentral.com. And please subscribe to Abandoned Central on KZitem so that you get all the latest and greatest videos. Thank you for all the support.
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