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One has to remember as well that these patients were treated with what the medical community had access to. There were no psychotropic drugs like what we have now. Doctors essentially tried to treat these patients through non-biochemical means such as hydrotherapy and isolation. When I see these images I do not feel pity or shame for the lives that the patients lived in these institutions. I see the amazing improvements we have made in the realm of psychiatric medicine in such a short period of time. The very people who would have been locked in an attic or smothered in their sleep as children can now live semi-productive lives in regular society. People like my mum who worked with these people loved them and cared for them and sought to make their existence easier. Even though they were surrounded by bars and cages they were treated with respect as the humans they were. Of course there are always people who are coarse and careless of the feelings of others and abuse those in their care, however, they certainly were a minority rather than the majority.

Twug, I know Motts answered your question already but to add to it, you have to remember that these were areas that the general public did not see. My mum worked in a state hospital in NY in the 60's. There was lots of woodwork, plasterwork and tiling were placed in the general rooms that patients family had access too. Most often the patient rooms, corridors, and day rooms were stark and to the point. Not a lot of effort was placed in making these places decorative. There were mostly plaster covered walls without a great deal of wood or brick. This is why these rooms tend to decay faster than other areas.

If i recall correctly this was Fr. Bernard Jusin's Office.

hey we were just there on 1-27-06..got some really nice pictures too, we went into the tunnels and everything, ended up in the basement of the adult hospital and had to walk right past the security guard trailer, cops were everywhere, careful.

Sneeb, your thoughts on Byberry mirror mine exactly.

This is one of the "newer" buildings. We used to have bbq's in the courtyard to the right of this pic. I'm pretty sure it's N-9.

A long fall

I can honestly say that I have never in all my days working in the health care field have i ever come in contact with something like that. Although i doubt many cardiac patients would need this type of device.

I bet that thing was heavy!!!!

wow, can you even think how messed up a person must have been to need that thing???
OMG.

yeh, uhhh like that

strange, I wonder what that thing cost.
very complicated, concidering that there was a human laying there, being pulled, (it looks like many directions at the same time, scary)...

and the leveling, cranks or levers.

hummm, guess there is not alot of nurses on here.

Yep, by the drop in temp you can figure out time of death.

((There were bellows in back where one could push and pull a handle to "breathe" for a person inside.))

we had the power go out. the generator took what seemed to be for ever to start up.
running from room to room, I had two, to bag the patients by had, was the most stressfull 6 minutes of my life. yeh, hold your breath for 45 or so seconds, two quick breaths, then hold for 45 seconds. that was me running from one room, into the next and back. they lived..