856 Comments for Rockland Psychiatric Center

This reminds me of Survival Research Laboratories' performances in San Francisco in the early 80's. Mark Pauline used to go into old tunnels and abandoned factories to collect mummified animal corpses which he then hooked up to machines to create robots. At one performance a dead rabbit /robot tried to escape from a strange, flame-throwing machine that lurched along on square wheels. At another performance, dead rabbits twitched and jumped in front of a huge poster of Billy Graham. The shows were often dangerous and you took your chances going, but they were always incredible. I remember one where giant robots attacked each other, bombs and flame-throwers were going off, then an extremely powerful wind machine was turned on, blowing stuff everywhere, including into the crowd. A lot of these events were filmed and are documented on DVD. RSL is still in existence and is well worth checking out if you ever get the chance. I'm sure there is a lot of info about this on the web.

coulorphobia=ME

nice

coulorphobia= a fear of clowns

Ah, that was a long time ago... sorry! I might try to make it back there though ;-)

Time will heal if you follow the yellow line. Very nice picture.

I can see where Lynne is coming from--this was probably put on the wall of a childrens ward (or a low mental level adult ward) to make it seem more cheerful for the patients with the bright colors and all.
Still, it does look sort of creepy doesn't it?
Hey, at least intentions were good. :)

What were the others like Motts? Do you remember?

I love how you got that shot slanted Motts, it adds to the color by a lot.

There's like no vandilisam here! It's wonderful to see one of these places in such good shape.

That's incredible! Seriously if I didn't know better I would think that gym was still in use today. From the picture it looks like it is in perfect condition.

Quite a "Bi-Polar" message- starts out on a nice note, and ends very negatively.

Joe, thanks for the great link. These souls were once living and breathing, with lives, thoughts, and emotions, just as were are today. Wether they were commited out of ignorance and misunderstanding, or true mental illness, they were all human beings. They deserved more than having what little was left of their outside lives end up in a discarded heap on the floor. It is the same with the older mental hospital cemeteries, who buried their patients with nothing more than a small stone with a number. Not even the dignity of a name. Society doesn't want to be confronted with things or people that are "different", because it forces them to linger on their own venerabilities. So, we hide away those things that bother us, hide along the feelings that go with them, and go along our happy little way, and forget that we could be that person on the inside looking out.

John Wayne Gacy, Tim Curry in 'It", that possessed clown doll in "Poltergiest." Clowns are evil -'nuff said.

I think it's fascinating when actual personal expressions are left behind by patients. It makes you wonder about their lives all that much more...