1,927 Comments for Pilgrim State Hospital

Yes ma'am, that is correct. It's been a while - I'll try to find an approximate date for you. I would guess the late 1700s to the early 1800s were when this sort of treatment took place. One method was to put people in a basket and pull it up to the ceiling and then let it drop. That would work for ME, all right. Another was to have someone walk across a stage and a trap door would open and they would fall into a vat of cold water. That would ALSO work for me and it would be a convenient thing there was water there because I truly believe I would have wet my pantaloons by the time I reached the water and I would need to "freshen" my clothes.
http://members.aol.com...stsArmamentarium.jpg

Hi Lynne,
I'm sorry about all the questions but I'm hooked on this stuff.

Is it true that at one time one of the methods used to cure mental problems was to "scare" the sickness out of people?

If so, when was this method stopped and how did they scare the person? Like did they shout "BOO" at them or show them scary drawings--how?

Hey, I'm Irish and I used to be from Long Island -- what a small world!! ;-)

Gotta practice these sign thingies.

Thanks Lynne!
Man your fingers are getting a work out typing tonight! :-)

The majority of cases of schizophrenia are first seen when people are teenagers/young adults. It is very rare that someone exhibits any signs of schizophrenia in middle age or later if they haven't already done so when younger. If someone starts to look "psychotic" anywhere after 30 or so and with NO history of psychosis, you have to rule out other factors, like brain trauma, medication, tumor, alcoholism, electrolyte imbalance, etc.

But again, the pattern of signs and symptoms of schizophrenia are fairly consistent, and even if someone faked it as a younger person, a good clinician should be able to tease it out, especially if there were good reasons why the person would have wanted to malinger.

As far as being unnerved, I'll have to think about it. I've done this so long and seen so many things that I can't think of any specific time I was particularly unnerved, but that may be due to the fact that after all this time the events seem natural, like having lived through a natural disaster makes you forget that rough times aren't necessarily part and parcel of everyone else's world.

Thanks Lynne,
Thanks for your reply, I'm siting here reading all your comments, they are really fascinating. I love how you described how to handle people with loss of reality control. Like starting with the day and stuff, I'm getting really into learning about all this! :-)
Your job sounds hard but you seem to love it. I think passion has a lot to do with how good you are at your work.
My uncle claimed that the younger someone is when they pull an insanity stunt the better it works, I suppose that does make sense since if something is wrong with the brain it would show up young.
Has a patient ever managed to do something so disturbing that deep down you were a bit unnerved?
Sorry for all the questions but I find it so fasniating to hear the opinions of those who work with and care for the mentally ill.
Sorry about my spelling. :)

Sorry - surveyors are in town and we've been working early and staying late last week and this.

It's possible, but it's difficult. There are a lot of tests that are specifically designed to detect "malingering," as it is called. There are a lot of things you do naturally if you have depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, etc., many of them involuntary, and there needs to be a consistent pattern before someone gets the diagnosis. A good mental health expert should be able to detect the fakes most of the time. However, I am sure there are a handful of people out there who have gotten away with it, probably under the circumstances in which the person is exceptionally good at faking PLUS the mental "expert" isn't that good.

If you have lots of time to observe someone (months) it would be very, very, very difficult for someone with any skills NOT to figure it out. Ironically, with the way insurance is going these days they try to make you prove 1,000 times over the person has a true problem or they won't pay you and/or the courts won't allow the person to remain in a mental health facility.

Lynne....where are you? :-)

LOL she might have to after she reads the size of that thing! :D

yes it is the one in brentwood, or I should say "was", right? Was every building destroyed last year?

Hi Lynne,
If you're around and have time can you answer a question of mine?
This is going to sound odd but I figured you'd know.
My uncle worked for the FBI for years. Over the weekend we went to his house for dinner and he began to explain how many mafia guys he arrested attempted to fake insanity. He claims that althogh most people who fake insanity get caught by one professonial or another once in awhile one of them will actually get away with it.
According to my uncle what a really good crook will do is fake insanity VERY young before they have any bad record on them. That way the "I"m a lunatic" stage is set before they get into legal trouble.
This struck me as really weird. Is it possible for someone to completely fake insanity and get away with it? Like is it actually possible to fake insanity so well that you can fool dozens of professionals such as doctors, nurses, orderlies, etc?
I'm just wondering because the concept struck me as strange. I would think that you'd be caught eventually but according to my uncle a good few of these criminals managed to fake madness, do a week or two in an asylum and then go home to a family member. That way even if they were ever suspected of doing something illegal it was very difficult to convict them.
Anyway I know it's a weird question but you know an amazing amount about insanity and I was just wondering if you think it's possible to fool that many professionals into believing your'e crazy.
Thanks. :)

Anastasia Beaverhausen "my idol" How full is your medicine cabinet my little chickadee Are you related to Regina Falangi?

Or what will be!!!

Solitude is the only word that comes to mine when I see this photograph. So... lonely, so shut off from the World. It's like you can feel somone who would have sat there, looking out into what could have been,

I was actually at Pilgrim State yesterday and just started doing research last night and today on the hospital and came across your website. It's a scary, creepy place but at the same time it's calming. Can't explain it. I saw so many cats living at the building. I wonder who is feeding them and giving them water? I took lots of photos at the building as well. I guess kids hang out there a lot and rip the place to shreds. Which building is the morgue located in? And the autopsy room?