For the Insane

Last Saturday, I got to do something that I always wanted to do---visit an insane asylum. Okay, so they are not called insane asylums anymore, but at least I can cross that one off my bucket list.

My psych class had a trip to Pilgrim Psychiatric Center in Brentwood, NY. I'm not a psychology major (I'm a communication arts major), and my psych class is actually Consumer Behavior in Marketing, but my professor had extra room, and I couldn't pass up the opportunity! How else am I going to see the inside of a mental hospital? (Without being committed?)

To be honest, I've wanted to visit Pilgrim for some time now to see the small history museum they have there. I grew up in Central Islip, NY, and C.I. is famous for being home of the Central Islip Psychiatric Center, which at one time was reportedly the biggest asylum in the world (...I think....don't quote me), until Pilgrim was opened in the 1930's, then it [Pilgrim] became the largest asylum in the world (I'm 100% sure on that one). Central Islip and Kings Park, another big and old asylum on Long Island, are now closed, and the patients were moved to Pilgrim. Now there is a small history museum with artifacts from all three hospitals. They actually have a tranquilizing chair like in the picture above.

The C.I. hospital was opened in 1889 as a New York City farm colony for the overcrowded Manhattan asylums. This was the time before medication, so the doctors believed that the fresh air of the country side would help the patients with their disorders. At that time, Long Island was mostly undeveloped land. The only efficient ways to get into Long Island was by boat or railroad. The Long Island Railroad ran right through Central Islip. C.I. was already an established town before the hospital, but once it opened, the hospital had major influence on how the town grew.

Since many Americans didn't want to work in a lunatic asylum, they ---like the Americans of today--- left the dirty work to the immigrants. [Some things never change. People today are always complaining on how things are getting worse, but after studying a bit of history, I'm a firm believer that the problems don't change, just the faces. Today's immigration problems are with Hispanics, but before that was with the Irish (remember NINA from high school social studies?) and Chinese, and before that it was with the Germans, and everyone else before, after, and in between. I hate people who say that this generation is the worst. The truth is that the world was hell of a lot worse even a generation back than it is right now....... Sorry I digressed.] So....yeah.... The Irish were sent to work in the asylums. There were even advertisements in Ireland to come work in Central Islip. C.I. was even called "Little Ireland" at one point. Even today some of the older Families in C.I. are Irish. These NYC farm colonies started off as self-sufficient little towns with their own post-offices, bakeries, stores, fire departments; the workers lived on the campuses with the patients; but by the 1950's they started building houses outside of the hospital grounds for the workers. That is how my family came to live in Central Islip. My grandfather and grandmother both worked for a short time for the hospital. My grandmother's stint there was extremely short. She quit very shortly after being hired for the cafeteria staff after a patient threw food at her. But that's why all the houses by Lowell Ave look the same. They were all built at the same time for the hospital workers.

In the C.I. exhibit in the museum, there is an old plaque from when the hospital first opened that read "New York City Farm for the Insane." My favorite part of that sign is "for the insane." That just wouldn't fly today. I noticed that when I was in Pilgrim the workers called the people being treated there "clients" instead of "patients." I guess calling these people "patients" is not considered PC (politically correct) nowadays. Calling them "insane" is completely out of the question. But it was common back at the turn of the [last] century to call those with mental disorders "insane" or "lunatics." An old asylum in NYC was actually called Bloomingdale Lunatic Asylum. There are some interesting articles in the New York Times archives that have titles such as Insane Men as Farmers or A Lunatic at Large from this time period.

Back then it didn't take much to get you put away in a place like Pilgrim or C.I. They took in the people that were not wanted by society, even if there was nothing "wrong" with them. If a parent didn't want to take care of his/her child anymore, they could give up custody to the State, and the children would wind up in asylums alongside mental patients, alcoholics, and drug addicts. During its heyday, Pilgrim housed about 14,000 patients, but thanks to higher standards in the medical field and modern medicine, that number was lowered to the 400 that they have today.

I could go on and on about this, but I'll be kind and end it here. Before I finish up this post, I want to mention this great documentary they recently had on PBS about Dr. Walter Freeman, the man who made the lobotomy famous in America. It was part of their American Experience series: The Lobotomist . You can watch it free online through the link! But I have to warn you that it is very graphic and at times disturbing. They show an actual lobotomy being performed.

Oooohhhhhh.... and if anybody wants to visit the Museum at Pilgrim, the website for the hospital is no help. The museum is open to the public, but I think you have to make sure that a museum worker will be there first. So I would call before you go. The museum is in building 45 on the second floor. When you get there, there is only one map at the entrance that is no help at all, and the signs are so small they might as well be invisible. If you arrive at the entrance from the Pilgrim exit of the Sagtikos Parkway, go left. Building 45 should be on the right side. I think building 102 is on the left. If you hit the 80s buildings, you've gone too far. (That's what happened to me :)