My good friend that sends the funny e-mails has also sent me a link to a very poignant site. I’ve included her message and the link below.
But first, I’ve provided some music for you to listen to while you’re checking it out (the link will open in a separate window or tab).
The Moody Blues
Isn’t Life Strange? — The Story In Your Eyes — Question
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Here’s my friend’s note and the link:
This “exhibit” is really amazing… and quite sad. I’m so glad that the recovery movement has made great strides in changing many of our mental health systems, but there is so much more to accomplish…
Hope you can find some time to “look inside”… these stories are very poignant.
The Lives They Left Behind: Suitcases From a State Hospital Attic
I want ice water.
I Want Ice Water! 
WOW! I’m actually quite speechless.
Thanks for sharing that.
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It’s bad enough that a person develops a mental illness in the first place. Having people you thought gave a damn about you turning their backs is more than anyone should have to bear. But to be locked (thrown) away and completely forgotten ranks right up there amongst the worst things people can do to each other.
And they wonder why people don’t talk about, or seek help, for their problems!
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It’s a dispictable thing to do. Even though my mother and I don’t get along, everytime she was in the hospital I always went to see her. I couldn’t image the pain a person would feel if not only do they have a mental illness, they also don’t have someone to let them know it’s going to be okay and that they are there for them.
The graves really got me on that sight. No one ever visiting them, taking care of them, dusting them off occassionally, kneeling before them and someone whispering that they loved them and missed them. So damn sad.
I guess sometimes it’s easier to just lock us away and throw away the key than to support and be there for us.
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I felt so lost, abandoned, and rejected during the late 90s that I entered into what the VA calls “long term care.” That’s when I realized that, no matter how bad is was for me, there were others much, much, worse off than me. I really don’t remember how long I was there, but it seems like I was in tears the whole time.
Even though I’d seen the lady who sends me these emails before, I didn’t really get to know her until I started coming out to “day treatment” from the VA group home I lived in for the 3 or 4 years after 9/11. She’s kind of the activities coordinator there. One of the “field trips” she took us on was to a really, really old cemetery on a hill overlooking Chillicothe. There were gravestones there that predated the Civil War by decades, and many of them had been so badly degraded by time and weather that they had taken on a “pillar of salt” look. I touched one of them and I swear that I can still feel the grit that it left on my hands.
My friend told us that many of the older graves dated back to when the hospital was still an active Army fort, and that many of the graves were of soldiers who died fighting Indians and, later, in the Civil War. Talk about stupid and unnecessary death!
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OMG! That place was also an Army Fort???? Can you image the spirits that walk around there???? Phew.
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The cemetery is some distance from where the hospital (which used to be a fort) is located. But I guess, being a fort and all, there were more than a few that died there. And that’s not to mention all the people that have died there as hospital patients! As my experience with that hospital goes back 14 years, there have been a few that I knew personally that have died there, and my friend also tells me when someone she thinks I might have known has died, now that I’ve left.
It’s funny that the thought of spirits has never come to me. Considering my background, you’d think I’d be totally phobic about it! 🙄
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Oh shit, I hope I didn’t start a phobia there!
I’m still in awe that you have been to this place, and STAYED there!
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As sick as it sounds, I’ve never felt more at home than when I was in the hospital. At least there you knew that the other people were unbalanced, unlike all those who pretend to be sane on the outside. And you’d be amazed at how many of the day-to-day staff were once patients themselves.
As for “spirits,” my scientific mind has always been in conflict with my experience there. But the only thing I fear, other than those yucky bugs, are the irrational and unpredictable behavior of living and breathing humans! Just like everyone else, I’m bothered by things I can’t explain, and I have no desire to be in a cemetery after dark. Been there, done that! 🙄
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You know what I liked about being in the hospital a few years ago? For a time I didn’t have to control anything or pretend like I could, for once someone could take care of me and help me realize that I was going to be okay…and well figuring out that I was in fact not crazy was another plus.
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Exactly! I felt so free – and so sane!. Sometimes I really miss it, especially being able to walk the grounds without feeling like I’ve entered the jungle.
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