3,664 Comments for Greystone Park Psychiatric Center

I love that song...oh, and the music video! LOL! :0)

that's some heavy-duty lead paint...awk!

I didn't read all the comments because there are so gard-dern many...but maybe someone else realized that the base of the bunny is a side view of a right-hand closed fist (ewww, precision)...am I the only one who has ever drawn a face on her hand and made it talk?...like Topogiggio? (Man, am I saying a lot about my, er wise years?...

Ron, my little buddy,

You win the gazillion dollar prize! That has been a huge problem in my field. For years (and even today, I am ashamed to have to admit) when someone with an intellectual disability talked to an imaginary friend they ran the risk of being labeled schizophrenic and put on meds. If you look at their developmental level, however, you see that this is not abnormal or unexpected. Lots of young children at the very same developmental level have imaginary friends and they are not (normally, thank God) put on medication because of it. As well, when there was crappy funding and staffing levels were low, there were times when some folks had no one else to talk to who was verbal, so a good way to pass the time was to make up an imaginary friend.

If people bother to take the time to look (and many don't), there is a world of difference between an imaginary friend and a hallucination. Imaginary friends are generally positive experiences and the person with one doesn't change their overall functioning level. They still interact with others, they remember to eat and drink and take care of hygiene, etc. Hallucinations, on the other hand, are generally very frightening or upsetting and the person shows general signs of deterioration along with them, such as forgetting about hygiene, getting paranoid over almost anything, etc.

psycadellic one,

This drawing prompted to look back through some of my old testing materials. I couldn't find my cognitive scoring paperwork, but I am now going to stake $1.20 (that's a large sum for me) that the bunny was indeed drawn by someone at the 4 to 6 year developmental level. Since I mainly test children of all cognitive levels and adults with intellectual disabilities, I like using drawings to start a testing session to warm the person up and give them something "fun" to do. I have had good luck using drawings to estimate cognitive level - the results correlate fairly well with standardized intelligence tests. I *rarely* use them for emotional interpretation, as they sometimes reflect more about the interpreter than the interpretee. :-)

I couldn't find anything about a circle being drawn around the drawing, and again we are merely speculating here (think of this as a sophisticated parlor game, y'all), but I am remembering that a circle around a drawing would probably be interpreted as one of several things. 1-) The person has some organicity (brain damage) and needs to draw a boundary for the drawing so it "stays in one place." People with brain trauma or other organic issues sometimes have a hard time knowing where one thing stops and another starts, so they will sometimes draw a boundary to help them establish edges. If they draw on a piece of paper they sometimes can't "negotiate space" and will start too close to the edge of the paper and their drawing may end up being squished so it will all fit on the paper, or sometimes parts are left off because they can't orient themselves to start the drawing in the middle of the paper and they run out of room. 2-) The person feels closed in or trapped. 3-) The person feels secure and homey and all nestled up.

So you see, there is a way to interpret it as either bad or good. You have to put it in context with a bazillion other variables.

I did some quick research scanning and there is definitely some support for prominent teeth in a drawing being indicative of hostility. However, it doesn't indicate whether YOU feel hostile or whether you feel others are being hostile TOWARD you.

OK, more than anyone ever wanted to know about the interpretation of drawings. :-)

lol, thanks Bri, i totally forgot about that.

perfect , you captured insanity might actually look like from the patients perspective

Theres something about this picture..... Maybe its the light coming through the bottom of the door... Im not sure, but I really like this picture.

Psycadellic one,
No, why do you ask? Has someone taken it?

while I like J D... I much prefer Brad Pitt, (straight out of the Anne Rice novel- Confessions of a Vampire) I'd love to bump into him in the above hallway - I wouldn't even bring protection! (I'm talking about a cross here lol)

Lynne, i see exactly what you mean there, it is kind of amazing, it looks like a sketch! What georgous colors too

Almost all the ceilings were vaulted like this, it's pretty incredible... hey Doc, welcome aboard, there's plenty of hospitals here and more coming ;-)

Motts I just found your websites. Your pictures are perfect. I am really fascinated with the older asylums. I think they are built better then todays. (since i do work in one)

I agree with Lynne I wish all asylums had the slots like that.

You've got a great eye for light, Motts!