Posted by Toph on February 4, 2013, at 9:58:11
In reply to Re: Going To The Lunatic Asylum, posted by Phil on February 1, 2013, at 10:25:46
40 years ago as a bipolar adolescent I was hospitalized several times for mania when I refused to accept my diagnosis. Two were in state hospitals, a new one in Chicago and one in an old asylum in Elgin. My parents fought to have me transferred out of these facilities that were mixed with the criminally insane to a nearby private hospital back when there was mental health insurance for these places. I remember one terrifying day at Elgin when a patient lit the curtains on fire. I smashed the glass to get at the fire hose. Another patient turned the valve and with manic glee I put out the curtains and sprayed all the staff who were frantically pulling the curtains down. Now when I drive by these institutions and those for the developmentally disabled (like the "Wisconsin Home for the Feebleminded") I swear that I can sense the screams of ill and mistreated former residents. Knowing that the mentally ill and disabled used to be warehoused I feel fortunate that I have led a "normal" life on medication that otherwise might have been spent in one of these places.
poster:Toph
thread:1036857
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20130101/msgs/1037316.html