Behind the Walls of the World’s Psychiatric Hospitals

Send us Fan Mail This week's episode outlines the history of Danvers State Hospital from 1912 until it closure in 1992. Find out what happens to the site after the hospital closed down and how it is being used today. Most of my information is drawn from the Images of America book on Danvers State Hospital by Katherine Anderson and Robert Duffy. All other sources will be listed at the end of t...

Send us Fan Mail This week's episode covers the first four decades of Danvers State Hospital (originally the State Lunatic Asylum at Danvers). Learn why people believed the land the asylum was built on was cursed. Find out what was later discovered in the abandoned hospital that had been preserved from the early days of the pathology lab. We'll also look at the ways in which Danvers was...

Send us Fan Mail This week's episode focuses on the story of Mary Huestis Pengilly, who was sent to the Provincial Lunatic Asylum in St. John, New Brunswick, at age 61. Learn about Mary's history and what possibly led to her admission to the asylum. Hear Mary's own words from her diary about her experience in the asylum -- from endearing women she met on the wards to rough nurses wh...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we discuss the last century of history at the Provincial Lunatic Asylum, now called the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). Find out about the murder that led to the "trial of the century" and sparked public interest in learning about insanity and psychiatry. Learn what methods of treatment were used at the hospital before the advent of psycho...

Send us Fan Mail This week's episode covers the history of the Provincial Lunatic Asylum over the course of 50 years (1857-1907). Find out what treatments were used during the superintendentship of Drs. Workman and Clark. Learn why one group was disproportionately represented in the asylum and in Toronto jails. All sources will be listed at the end of the episode transcript. Please remember t...

Send us Fan Mail In this week's episode, we discuss the socio-political events that led to the construction of the Provincial Lunatic Asylum in Toronto, Canada. Find out why it took so long for the asylum to be constructed and why it was only half-built by the time it opened in 1850. Learn about the very turbulent first decade of the asylum's history and why the medical superintendent su...

Send us Fan Mail Episode 46 discusses one of Napa State Hospital's most notorious patients, Richard Allen Davis. Find out why he was sent to Napa, why he only stayed eight days, and how his life of crime effected significant change in the criminal justice system around the U.S. All sources are listed at the end of the episode transcript. Check out our Beacons page: https://beacons.ai/behindth...

Send us Fan Mail Episode 45 covers the history of the new hospital buildings: how they were used during WWII and how they evolved to eventually house 4,991 patients. Find out why the Navy was using tree bark from the hospital grounds, learn why visitors are not allowed into state hospitals today, and discover how then-Governor Ronald Reagan kickstarted deinstitutionalization. Much of the informati...

Send us Fan Mail Episode 44 discusses the history of Napa State Hospital from 1901 until the demolition of the Castle in 1950. Find out how the hospital was impacted by events, like the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, WWI and WWII, and the Influenza epidemic of 1918. Learn about some of the treatments used during this time period and what finally led to the California Governor saying the Castle was...

Send us Fan Mail Episode 43 covers the first three decades of "The Castle" at Napa Insane Asylum in Napa, California. Find out why tourists were drawn to the asylum and what they did while they were there. Learn what my connection is to Napa State Hospital and the rigorous process it took to get me there. My primary source for this episode is  Images of America: Napa State Hospital , by...

Send us Fan Mail In this week's episode, I talk to Nate Buchanan of Eerie Tours at Aradale Mental Hospital. Find out how he got started in the ghost tour industry, what drew him to Aradale, what stories get covered on the tour, and where YOU can learn more and take the tour yourself! For more information about Eerie Tours: https://www.eerietours.com.au/tours/aradale-ghost-tour/ To support thi...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we discuss the history of Kew Lunatic Asylum (1871-1988), near Melbourne. Find out why the hospital stayed open for so long, even when administration called for its closure several years after opening. Learn about the story of one patient who gained international notoriety for all the wrong reasons. All sources are listed in the episode transcript. Join the Facebo...

Send us Fan Mail Episode 40 discusses the history and people of J Ward, a special unit of Ararat/Aradale Mental Hospital devoted to the treatment of the criminally insane. Learn about the early beginnings when it was built as a goldfields jail and how it became a part of the Lunacy Department. Learn about why two inmates from J Ward remain in the Guinness Book of World Records. Finally, learn abou...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we discuss what led to Ararat Mental Hospital finally closing in 1993, as well as what has become of the hospital in the years following its closure. All sources listed at the end of the episode transcript. Special thanks to David Waldron for allowing me to use his book  Aradale: The Making of a Haunted Asylum .  Check out my Beacons page for ways to support the s...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we  almost  finish the history of Ararat/Aradale Mental Hospital. We begin by discussing deinstitutionalization around the world and in Victoria more specifically. Learn about the one man who changed legislation to keep him locked up. All sources will be listed at the end of the episode transcript. Special shout out to David Waldron for allowing me to use his book...

Send us Fan Mail Episode 37 discusses the history of Ararat Hospital for the Insane and how it later became Ararat Mental Hospital and, unofficially, Aradale Mental Hospital. Learn about daily life at the hospital, as well as the attempts to improve morale among staff. All of my sources are cited at the end of the episode transcript. Check out my Beacons page for ways to support the show and stay...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we look at the early history (approx. 1865-1905) of Ararat Lunatic Asylum in Ararat (Victoria) Australia, and how the Victorian gold rush played a role in the creation of asylums. Learn about how increased immigration factored in to the creation of new laws and discrimination around the colony. All sources are listed at the end of the episode transcript. Support t...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we look at everything spooky from Denbigh Asylum, starting back in the 16th century with the legend of why the grounds are believed to be cursed. Hear stories from a former staff member about an "experimental" treatment turned tragic and unexplainable phenomena. All sources are listed in the episode transcript. The two primary stories are taken from the...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, Sarah reads the story "The Quietude" by Simon Thirsk from the book  Dangerous Asylums , edited by Rob Mimpriss, which is based on real-life events. The narrator is the brother of a patient at Denbigh Asylum and tells the buildup to his brother's insanity diagnosis and the lasting repercussions this had on his family. Check out my new Beacons site: h...

Send us Fan Mail Episode 33 tells the stories of three patients who resided at Denbigh Asylum, as told in the book  Dangerous Asylums , edited by Rob Mimpriss. The stories are written by Welsh writers and are entitled "The Elves and the Shoemaker" (by Carys Bray), "Going Back" (Manon Steffan Ros), and "Imagining Angels" (by Glenda Beagan).  Trigger warning for child d...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we discuss the history of the North Wales Hospital from approximately 1945 until its closure in 1995. Then, learn what happened to the property and the buildings after the hospital closed and what the plans are for it today. Most information is drawn from Clwyd Wynne's book _The North Wales Hospital: Denbigh (1842-1995)_. All other sources are listed in the e...

Send us Fan Mail Episode 31 discusses the history of Denbigh Asylum (later North Wales Hospital) from 1905 to 1945. Learn about "shell shock," psychiatric capacity, and what treatments were used in Denbigh at this time. Most information for this episode was drawn from the book _The North Wales Hospital: Denbigh (1842-1995)_ by Clwyd Wynne. All other sources are listed in the episode tran...

Send us Fan Mail Episode 30 is the first part of the history of Denbigh Asylum (later known as the North Wales Hospital) in Denbighshire, Wales, UK, from approximately 1842-1905. Most information for this episode was drawn from the book _The North Wales Hospital: Denbigh (1842-1995)_ by Clwyd Wynne. This and all other sources are listed in the transcript of this episode. Support the show

Send us Fan Mail Episode 29 discusses the ghost stories and paranormal experiences that people have reported at Willard State Hospital. Find out about the televised paranormal investigations that have happened at the hospital, and why 4,000 people flocked to Willard in a day in 2015. Also, learn about 19th century "asylum tourism" and what drew people to visit these facilities. All sourc...

Send us Fan Mail Episode 28 discusses the lives and hospitalizations of Rodrigo Lagon, an immigrant from a wealthy Filipino family, and Ethel Smalls, New York native who divorced her abusive husband in 1930. Most of the information for this week's episode comes from the book "The Lives They Left Behind" by Darby Penney and Peter Stastny. All other sources cited in the episode transc...