Behind the Walls of the World’s Psychiatric Hospitals

Send us Fan Mail This week's episode covers a particularly turbulent time in Italian history: from WWI to WWII and the birth of the Republic. Find out how Volterra Lunatic Asylum fared during wartime and why it began to help feed the surrounding city of Volterra. Learn why the hospital superintendent was forced to retire after 34 years on the job. Discover how Fascism infiltrated every aspect...

Send us Fan Mail In this week's episode, we head to Tuscany, Italy, to the hilltop town of Volterra. Learn about the early history of the Volterra Lunatic Asylum, the political climate of Italy at the time, and the controversial treatments of the first asylum director, Dr. Luigi Scabia. Finally, hear the stories of two artists who were sent to Volterra later in their lives. The main source fo...

Send us Fan Mail This week's episode is perfectly-timed for Halloween! Learn about Rolling Hills Asylum as a haunted attraction and what draws people to the site. Find out about the staff and patients who lived at the poor farm and whose spirits are said to roam the halls still. Discover what is so creepy about the "Christmas Room" and what happens to visitors when they lie down on...

Send us Fan Mail This week we discuss the history of Rolling Hills Asylum, which was known as the Genesee County Poor Farm while it was in operation. Learn about the historical context that shows why poorhouses started in New York. Find out about the doctor that exposed the horrific conditions that poor and mentally ill folks were living in. Finally, discover when and why the Genesee County Farm b...

Send us Fan Mail This week's episode tells the stories of six survivors of Ireland's Magdalen laundries and orphanages. Learn what their typical work day was like, what punishments they experienced, and what the long-term consequences were of incarceration at the laundries. My main sources for this episode include the 1998 documentary Sex in a Cold Climate and a 2013 BBC article entitled...

Send us Fan Mail This week's episode discusses the history of Magdalen Asylums (also called Magdalen Laundries) in England and Ireland. Focus lies primarily on the history of these laundries in Ireland. Find out how and why these asylums started, how many there were of them in England and Ireland, and what finally brought them to a close. My primary source for this episode is the book Do Pena...

Send us Fan Mail This week's episode features the story of "Tammy," a survivor of Goodna/Wolston Park Mental Hospital, in her own words. The focus of her story lies in the aftermath of her time spent in institutions and how her hospitalization has affected the rest of her life. Trigger warnings for this episode include the use of explicit, outdated, and ableist language; mention of...

Send us Fan Mail This week's episode tells the story of Jean, who later went by Erin, and her experience at multiple adolescent treatment facilities in Queensland, including Goodna/Wolston Park Mental Hospital. She also discusses the lasting effects her childhood had on her life. Trigger warnings for this episode include mention of sexual abuse, physical abuse, psychological abuse, drug abuse...

Send us Fan Mail This week's episode examines the history of Goodna Mental Hospital, which also went by Brisbane Mental Hospital, Brisbane Special Hospital, and Wolston Park Mental Hospital during the years between 1937 and its closure in 2001. Find out what controversial treatments were used there and why the treatments took an almost 10 year hiatus. Learn what led to the deinstitutionalizat...

Send us Fan Mail This week's episode discusses the early history of Woogaroo Lunatic Asylum/Goodna Hospital for the Insane. Find out why the asylum had to be moved and rebuilt several times during its early years. Learn about the superintendents that were crucial to shaping the future of the hospital. Discover what "treatments" were offered to returning veterans of WWI. All sources...

Send us Fan Mail This week we head down under to Queensland to learn about Ipswich Mental Hospital, which went by many other names during its 120 year history. Find out which name is the reason this hospital was selected (I promise you'll be able to tell!). Discover how the area went from a formal penal colony to discovering coal to housing a small branch of the Woogaroo Lunatic Asylum. All s...

Send us Fan Mail This week we travel to South Korea to the defunct Gonjiam Psychiatric Hospital, which was once named the third most haunted place in South Korea and one of the freakiest places in the world. Learn about the legends and myths surrounding the facility, as well as the very real history of mental health treatment in 20th century South Korea. Sources will be listed at the end of the ep...

Send us Fan Mail This week's episode concludes the series on Seacliff Mental Hospital and the story of New Zealand writer Janet Frame. Find out why Frame was sent to Seacliff, how many psychiatric hospitals she would be admitted to, and how her writing actually saved her life. The main source for this episode is Janet Frame's autobiography An Angel at My Table . All other sources will be...

Send us Fan Mail This week's episode examines the childhood and young adulthood of New Zealand writer Janet Frame. Learn what it was like for Frame growing up during the Great Depression and World War II, all while hoping to learn to develop and perfect the craft of writing. This episode includes excerpts from very early in her writing career. The main source for this episode is from Janet Fr...

Send us Fan Mail This episode features one of Janet Frame's short stories, "Gorse is not People," which was featured in The New Yorker on August 25, 2008. Link here: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2008/09/01/gorse-is-not-people References to this work are from part two of Janet Frame's autobiography, An Angel at my Table . Check out our Patreon: http://www.patreon.com/behin...

Send us Fan Mail This week's episode discusses the life, crime, and escapes of Lionel Terry. Find out what brought him to New Zealand and why he committed this hate crime. Learn about how he escaped from both Sunnyside Mental Hospital and Seacliff Mental Hospital multiple times and who finally convinced him to stay. Trigger warning for strong racist ideologies espoused by Terry. This episode...

Send us Fan Mail This week's episode examines the history of Seacliff Mental Hospital after the tenure of Sir Truby King until the closure of Seacliff and Cherry Farm. Learn about how people who had been diagnosed as "mentally defective" were treated. Brace yourself for the deadly and devastating event that finally caused administration to call for a new hospital location. And find...

Send us Fan Mail This week's episode looks at the history of Seacliff Lunatic Asylum during the tenure of superintendent Dr. Truby King. Find out what improvements he made to the asylum and what clinical interests sidetracked him along the way. Learn some of the reasons why he became infamous in New Zealand and some of the reasons why we should review his legacy with caution. Primary sources...

Send us Fan Mail This week's episode examines a lot of history that led to the construction of the Seacliff Lunatic Asylum in New Zealand. Learn why New Zealand had six asylums built within a 20 year span in the mid-1800s and still required more space. Find out why the architect of Seacliff fled to Melbourne following construction of the asylum. My main sources for this episode include The Hi...

Send us Fan Mail This week's episode examines the life and crimes of "Jolly Jane" Toppan. Find out why Jane is considered the first female serial killer in the U.S. and how she escaped detection for almost 20 years. The main source for this episode is Pretty Evil New England by Sue Colette. All other sources will be listed at the end of the episode transcript. Visit our Patreon page...

Send us Fan Mail This week's episode examines the past century of treatment at Taunton State Hospital and explores the changes that have occurred during that time. This episode borrows heavily from the book A Brief History of Taunton Lunatic Hospital 1854 to 2016 by Joseph Langlois. All other sources will be listed in the episode transcript. Support the show

Send us Fan Mail This week's episode examines 40 years of the history of Taunton State Hospital. Find out what notorious true crime story may (or may not) have a connection to the hospital. Learn how treatment at Taunton was ahead of its time in so many ways. My primary source for this week's episode is the book  A Brief History of the Taunton Lunatic Hospital 1854 to 2016 by Joseph Lang...

Send us Fan Mail This week's episode explores the history of the first three decades of Taunton State Hospital in Taunton, Massachusetts. Find out why people were sent to this hospital and what major world events led to a dramatic increase of patient admissions at asylums around the state. Learn what a "magic lantern show" was and why the asylum had to have a wall built around it to...

Send us Fan Mail In this week's episode, I interview photographer Christie Seyglinski. Listen to find out how she got started photographing abandoned Kirkbride hospitals and why she spent a night in an old asylum in 8th grade! Add Abandoned: Echoes of the Past by Christie Seyglinski to your wishlist now! Available soon. Follow her work on Instagram @christieseyglinski or on Facebook at Abando...

Send us Fan Mail This week's episode features the story of the tragic murder of 5-year-old Edith Freeman in 1879. Learn why her parents did not mourn the loss of their daughter, whom they said they loved more than life itself, and find out why her father was sent to Danvers Lunatic Asylum in 1880. Sources are mostly drawn from newspaper articles from the time period (thanks, newspapers.com!)...