2,646 Comments for Clairvaux Tuberculosis Hospital

Saw your guy's here, although this page is not "live" keep checking it. Lots of info will be up when it's done.

http://harlemvalley.org/psychotherapy/

I've seen gait belts in old hospitals before... didn't know what they were until now, thanks! But I don't think they could be classified as a restraint, they're more like "handles" to help move patients.

I think I remember it being about the size of my hand...

sorry, one more bit of info.........the belts are called gait belts

i just wanted to say that restraint is still used in hospitals today, obviously not to the extent that used to be enforced.....and the belt to me resembles the belts that we use in the hospitals to help lift patients that are weak and unable to stand on their own, just thought i would offer a little of what i know

its a nemises pan, in other words, a puke pan

oh my !!

now i like this shot, it looks other wordly to me

creepy to know that the lights still worked in all that decay

Insulin coma shock was developed by Manfred Sakel shortly after insulin was discovered in 1922. Depicted in "A Beautiful Mind", insulin coma shock sent patients into a violent hypoglycemic coma. I am pretty sure I remember reading that Sakel demonstrated insulin coma shock therapy at Harlem Valley State Hospital, however several hospitals (including Byberry) couldn't afford the treatment.
The reason why insulin coma shock therapy was put to an end was because metrazol shock therapy (circa 1934 by Meduna) was cheaper, faster, and had a lower fatality rate. Metrazol was eventually replaced by ECT for similar reasons.

Has anyone here ever heard of Insulin coma therapy? I heard that a Viennese psychiatrist developed this type of treatment to cure psychotic patients, it worked by injecting large amounts of insulin into the blood stream and putting the patient into a coma, they wer supposed to show signs of slight improvement,but after he overdosed one of his patients the treatment was put to an end. Don't ask me if it killed the patient, because I don't know.

Wow it must be a subconcious thing... I wonder what it means!

Motts, i noticed that you hardly ever shoot your requisite Lonely Chair shots from the front or a front angle; any reason for the rear angle preference? it almost seems as though the chair is being "punished" ala "go stand in the corner Little Johnny"... By the by, there is something very disturbing about the way that one strap just kind of trails behind.

They were most likely used for patients who could not control thier motor functions to keep them from involuntary hurting themselves and others. There isn't really much of an alternative, except for drug treatment, which hadn't really started taking hold until the 1950's.

How archaic and frightening. Straps? Were they for the dangerous patients?