5
It's actually pretty easy to figure out why old asylums are dark and scary places. Even modern ones are not pleasant places to be, but in the old days you could be locked away for the rest of your life at the mercy of "doctors" who basically used the patients as guinea pigs to practice barbaric surgeries and tortures on them. Not to mention random abuse at the hands of the staff/other patients.
Exploring Why Old Mental Hospitals Are So Scary
Americans have always been deeply invested in what goes on within the walls of institutions such as the former Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum in West Virginia. The term “asylum” itself, which has negative connotations today, was originally used to evoke confidence, safety, and security. How and why this changed is part of a longer story of stigma, fear, and horror.
READ MORE →
13 Local Ghost Stories
From haunted roads to benevolent theater ghosts and unquiet spirits on the golf course, our readers shared their favorite ghostly tales that haunt their hometowns.
READ MORE →
It's actually pretty easy to figure out why old asylums are dark and scary places. Even modern ones are not pleasant places to be, but in the old days you could be locked away for the rest of your life at the mercy of "doctors" who basically used the patients as guinea pigs to practice barbaric surgeries and tortures on them. Not to mention random abuse at the hands of the staff/other patients.
My wife has told me stories about a tubercularium/asylum near where she used to live called Waverly Hills. It's been shut down since the 1950s if I'm not mistaken, but it had a very dark past. Most floors hosted the tuberculosis patients but one of them had the disturbed ward and some terrible things transpired in that place.
Agreed, the hospitals' treatment of mental illness in the distant (and not-so-distant) past leaves a lot to be desired. This article makes some very grim reading:It's actually pretty easy to figure out why old asylums are dark and scary places. Even modern ones are not pleasant places to be, but in the old days you could be locked away for the rest of your life at the mercy of "doctors" who basically used the patients as guinea pigs to practice barbaric surgeries and tortures on them. Not to mention random abuse at the hands of the staff/other patients.
My wife has told me stories about a tubercularium/asylum near where she used to live called Waverly Hills. It's been shut down since the 1950s if I'm not mistaken, but it had a very dark past. Most floors hosted the tuberculosis patients but one of them had the disturbed ward and some terrible things transpired in that place.
Truly mortifying. This Dr. Bailey ruined a lot of people with his methods. At least he came to a suitably ignominious end.Agreed, the hospitals' treatment of mental illness in the distant (and not-so-distant) past leaves a lot to be desired. This article makes some very grim reading:
We’re for Sydney | Daily Telegraph
When I was growing up, the big scandal in Australia was the Chelmsford Hospital (mentioned in the article). Deep Sleep Therapy (DST) was not unique to Chelmsford, but by all accounts they took it to an extreme level. Some more grim reading:
Nightmare on Chelmsford, Sydney
Deep sleep therapy - Wikipedia