What They Left Behind

[OneBlueSky]

this article from the Village Voice recalls the days when individuals could be committed to mental institutions on the whim of someone in authority and left there for the rest of their lives . . . scroll down to read the stories of four of these people . . . the story of Madeline C. (below) is particularly disturbing . . . the article also brings to mind how BushCo is handling various detainees in the "war on terrorism," some of whom may never be heard from again . . .

What They Left Behind
by Jennifer Gonnerman
The Village Voice
January 28 - February 2, 2004

http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0404/gonnerman.php

MADELINE C.
1896-1986
Prior residence: Manhattan
Years at Willard: 47

Madeline was born in France, graduated from the Sorbonne, and taught French literature in various parts of the U.S., including Boston, Dallas, and New York. During the Depression, she was unemployed and sought help from the Emergency Work Bureau. She was sent to the New York Psychiatric Institute in upper Manhattan, and after claiming that she could read minds, was shipped off to three more hospitals. "I want to get out of here immediately," Madeline said when she arrived at Central Islip Hospital. "I think it's an outrage I have been brought here."

In 1939, she arrived at Willard. More than three decades later, she was still trying to regain her freedom. "I don't like this hospital," she said, according to a note in her records. "I resent being detained and wasting my time." The items found in her suitcase hint at what her life was like before she was locked up, and what she might have been doing with her time had she been released. Her trunk contained a pink silk dress, a pair of long white gloves, a stack of sheet music, a copy of Dodsworth by Sinclair Lewis, and a bulletin listing philosophy and psychology courses at Columbia University.

In 1971, Willard staffers decided not to set Madeline free because of her "continual fidgety movements, rigid stances, and facial grimaces." At the time, they did not know that these were the side effects of the psychiatric medications they had prescribed for her. She was sent to "attitude therapy" to get her to stop grimacing. By the time she finally got out of Willard, she was 79 years old. She was moved to a private facility and died 11 years later.

- much more . . .

http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0404/gonnerman.php

[beyurslf]

1. The history of institutionalizatino is disturbing to say the least.

When I lived in NYC, I worked for AHRC (Assoc. for the Help of Retarded Children). We had group homes for adults too and I was a manager for one. We had 3 former WillowBrook patients. (This is the institution that was infamous for the terrible "experiments" they did on patients. The breaking story made Geraldo famous.) They had their teeth extracted if they ever had bite anything or anyone. They were given diseases so that "cures" could be tested. The female in my home had her hair removed and tests run on the folicles so that she no longer grew hair. She also had skin grafting done to test the effects on certain parts of the body (private areas).

Institutions are not homes. They are places of learning (universities) or imprisonment (hospitals). No one should live in an institution. No child. No adult. No one.