TBE on 9/12/2007 at 00:24
I stumbled on an article in the USA Today about left behind suitcases and belongings at a mental hospital when it closed in 1995. “The Lives They Left Behind: Suitcases From a State Hospital Attic” written by Ms. Darby Penney is a book forthcoming describing the owners of the suitcases and their lost belongings. There is an exhibit at the (
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/07/arts/design/07suit.html?n=Top/Reference/Times%20Topics/Organizations/N/New%20York%20Public%20Library) New York Public Library through January 31st.
Well, I know most of you cannot get to the New York Public Library before the exhibit moves, so you can just logon to (
http://suitcaseexhibit.org/indexhasflash.html) SuitcaseExhibit.org and see some of the life stories of these people and the belongings they took for what they thought would be a short stay at the hospital.
This is a really cool website. I thought the patients would be very interesting to you guys, so check it out, and discuss this now. TBE
heretic on 9/12/2007 at 00:41
Wow, fantastic find TBE.
Tocky on 9/12/2007 at 02:17
So many of thier brows slope downwards as if the sadness of all creation were dragging at thier faces. It makes you wonder what kindness was withheld, what cruelty proffered by the world at large, that left them at the side of the road watching the bus roar away.
What was that line from Streetcar Named Desire? "I've always trusted in the kindness of strangers." Sad.
fett on 9/12/2007 at 02:47
Fascinating - I just spent about 20 minutes looking around the site. A really sad picture of institutionalization in the early 1900's, and pretty scary when you realize many aspects haven't changed. Good find indeed.
Thief13x on 9/12/2007 at 21:00
Quote Posted by Taffer_Boy_Elvis
a mental hospital when it closed in 1995.
Glad to hear that sales are down:D I'm gonna have to take a look at this more after finals weeks. And if any of you find this stuff interesting, you might rent the movie
Session 9, it's a good horror/suspense movie about restoration of an abandoned mental hospital. Definatly one of my favorites.
jimjack on 9/12/2007 at 21:23
Sad images. It was more of a prison sentence. It certainly didn't look like they were trying to "help anyone". Especially for the reasons they were committed.One guy was committed because he "made a scene when he was served a meal on a chipped plate at a restuarant".
In vancouver it's pretty disturbing to see the numbers of mentally ill people on the streets and some are pretty far gone. My uncle says the numbers have grown in such a short time since the twenty years hes' been here, and with so many that there is no place to put them for treatment. People pretty much try to ignore it and walk on. There is worry that it's affecting the tourist side of the city.
Society seems to have along way to go still when it comes to attitudes and treatments to mental health.
Medlar on 9/12/2007 at 22:29
Sad images indeed! "Civilised society" has a problem with dealing with mental health victims. Here in the UK there is a concerted effort to integrate sufferers back into society but it is not going to well. Many are being bullied and taken advantage of, others are attacking the communities they are placed in. Our social service is underfunded and are finding it hard to keep track of their charges. Perhaps institutions are an answer but they have to be run with the patients well being foremost and not treated as lifers.
TBE on 10/12/2007 at 00:52
You've gotta wonder if one guy was thrown in the loony-bin for being upset at a chipped plate, then what would they do with some of us? I've gone off the handle a time or two when something was the last straw of the day. I've gone totally ballistic at work when someone finally pushes all the buttons. (Normally, I'm the one pushing all the buttons, by the way.)
Patient Frank has a really neatly packed suitcase, which shows his military background stayed with him, even after leaving the military. He had pictures of family and things like a baby shoe in there. You've got to wonder what life will throw at you sometime. :(
SubJeff on 10/12/2007 at 10:08
Sorry to be a bore but I highly doubt that he was institutionalised "for getting annoyed at a chipped plate". That might have been what set him off but for all we know he may have exhibited any number of psychiatric and possibly psychotic symptoms. It just irks me that people jump to these conclusions, and it seems to be a product of the portrayal of early psychiatry in popular culture, which, needless to say, is inaccurate and over-dramatised in much the same way as the ability to revive people so easily with CPR/survive serious injury etc is.
Very interesting site all the same.
