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I work in a long term care facility for the mentally ill and developmentally disabled and just last week I saw a writing like this by a resident. TB patients were separated from their loved ones, Drug additcts were separated from their true love...It is more than likely a real note.

The art deco architecture and the tapestry brick design are amazing. I wonder if anyone has those skills now days...

i feel a little dizziness

I first started working in the mental health field right at the time the class action lawsuits were being settled. Some of the regulations in the consent decrees seemed so silly. Not silly=trivial, but silly as in "why in the world does that have to be codified? It's just common sense!" such as the rules that residents have their choice of clothing and food. I gradually came to understand why it was necessary, that there had been a time, not very long ago, when people being treated for mental health concerns did not have even these most elementary choices. One thing that I was taught to think about, when evaluating the amount of choice and self-determination a resident had, was how many doors the person went through in a day, and compare that to how many doors I went through. That's because in the institutions patients often spent entire days without leaving their ward (mostly because there were only a couple of aides for a large number of patients, and it's easier to maintain order if the group stays in one enclosed space). Despite all this, I still believe it was the system that failed, resulting in abuse and neglect. It was not someone's malicious intent to abuse people (aside from a very few, but you find a few of those people in every situation where one person has power over another). There was not enough space, not enough money for adequate staff/materials/maintenance, not enough training, and most importantly, not enough public support. Every superintendent's report I've ever read contains a list of things that need to be done to make life better for the patients, and a plea for the legislature to appropriate the required funds. People with mental illness just didn't matter enough.

That picture looks so familiar.....possibly from a childhood book of mine? Dont know but the first thing I thought when I saw it was...hey...i know that dog from somewhere.

My attempt at translation of the above comment:
"I am Dominican and I remember that I worked in that place for a long time with patients that I still remember very fondly and my co-workers whom I loved alot, even though many are dead, I will always continue loving them." I haven't used Spanish for years, but hopefully I got the general idea right.

Yeah this hallway is really really bad shape......yuck...

Ok where did my soap dispenser go....cause you know I can't find it like anywhere......oh were oh were did you go.......LOL

Interesting photo Motts, I also think of all the workers and patients that went down these same halls all those years it was in operation. Who would've thought that at that time all the yrs later it would 'look' like it does now. I'm sure none of them thought it would ever close down....but things change. I'd say some patients had mental/health issues but maybe didn't need to be locked up. They didn't have the advancements in medicine that we do now. I'm not saying some didn't need to be there just maybe not as many needed to be just locked up and throw away the key sort of mentality. Its kinda a shame in some ways. Some patients could've and should've gotten much better treatment than they did. I feel really bad for those patients that were abused. Esp from a health care system that well is suppose to 'help'. Unfortunately , it happens all of the time....and still to this day. How sad really. How sad.......

It does look like some kinda a snake ....scary looking one too....Nice photo Motts....

Is this in that house? the one with the steps up the side? I found a camping stove in there, i thought some tramps were staying, apparently I was right...

The hospital is so beautiful, i'm so pissed off that they're knocking it all down.
=[

This one is amazing =]

I doubt it was some brave explorer trying to find his way out!
I live right in front of the hospital, I go on walks around it most days, I have to say it is quite creepy but you don't have to be brave to go in there, just a bit stupid because you're risking breathing in asbestos or falling through the floor
haha

A belated note to Joy: you forgot to include the part where they cut off the top of the person's head and took out parts of their brain. :-)