When you think of the word asylum you usually don’t think of the huge Insane Asylums that we had in this country until the mid 1980s. Just a few of them are still standing, a testament to another failed attempt on societies part in helping the insane. They use to be called Lunatic Asylums due to the fact it was thought the moon had some sway over these tortured people.
Today, even with the glut of drug ads for depression medication, we don’t except people with mental illness like we would any other sick person. We still want to shut the insane away or just abandoned them to a life of homelessness.
I went to a psych hospital after I tried to commit suicide and it saved my life. No one would ever imagine that I was ever in one, but it’s true. And it’s true that they’ve really come around from what they used to be. I’d like to take a tour of the old buildings that are still standing and photograph them.