The Topeka State Hospital (a.k.a. The Topeka Insane Asylum) 

Thank you so much for having taken the time to both view and share a comment on this video. And yes, we will continue making these videos...but in all honesty, this entire RU-vid channel is just the first step in several more extensive efforts. I've also written two books on mental illness and the mentally disabled (one pertaining to mental illness and early childhood, the other pertaining to the warehousing of the mentally ill in today's prison system) and we're in the process of getting both of these books published. We're also far along in the process of setting up and establishing our own non-profit advocacy organization for the mentally ill and the mentally disabled. I'm making announcements regarding these things over on the A Tourist in the Land of Reason Facebook page, and I will continue to do so as events warrant.

My grandma died in Arizona state hospital. I have really become so interested in these . The state of our system is not better with most of these places closed down. As they should have been for treating people so inhumane. It’s unreal. More people need to see these.

Thank you so much for taking the time to watch this video, and thank you even more for taking the extra time to share your thoughts, too - both mean more to me than you know. I'm very glad that circumstances have allowed for our paths to cross :-) Life is kind of funny sometimes. Originally this channel was full of videos that I narrated...and nobody watched or listened to them lol Some people are gifted with "a face fit for radio;" I guess that I've been blessed with "a voice fit for print." I grew up in West Virginia and Kentucky and have spent the last 20 years in Arkansas, so perhaps it's my accent. Having read everyone's comments, I find myself agreeing, though, and I've adopted the goal that, when the channel reaches 10,000 subscribers, I'm going to seek out a more talented narrator to perhaps partner with. In the meantime, I did leave one of the first narrated videos on the channel. I did this because it pertains to mental illness and church, which is a topic that I've never seen anybody else satisfactorily address. I'll share the link to it here with you so that you can hear what my voice and accent sound like...and perhaps the video might finally end up starting to get some views :-) ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-3IgB-lrtwns.html

@@atouristinthelandofreason5284 Your channel was new at that time, so less people would watch. I saw this video because RU-vid recommended it to me under another History video. That may be why more people are watching, not your voice. I enjoyed the video though, I thought it was a well written essay, and the pictures made it better.

Where can more photos (1910s-1930s) be seen? My grandpa's uncle died there in 1937.

Thank you so much for having watched this video and for taking the time to share your thoughts pertaining to it and your kind words in doing so. I'm very happy that our paths have been allowed to cross here, and I hope that you enjoy watching further videos on this channel :-)

Thank you so much for having taken the time to both watch and comment on this video. All of these old facilities are so rich in history and, in ages past, had such a tremendous impact on the local societies and economies around them. In many cases, they were entire worlds back then that have now been largely forgotten today. Yet a number of these facilities continue to stand, some of them continue to operate on a limited basis, and all of the history behind them still remains, waiting to be rediscovered and appreciated.

One of the things that I find myself wondering at times is, how would it go if yesterday's leaders were placed in charge of today's efforts? Because back then, even though their understanding and knowledge was extremely limited and so many of their efforts were largely misguided, they were still willing to commit vast resources and immense levels of finances to them. Whereas today, our understanding and knowledge are so immense...and yet we're now hardly willing to commit any resources or finances at all. It seems like there ought to be some type of middle ground between the two extremes in which the mentally ill and the mentally disabled actually end up receiving all of the care and treatment that they actually need.

Thank you so much for having taken the time to both watch and to comment upon this video. Your presence on the channel is greatly felt, and it helps accomplish great things for those who are unable to help themselves 💗

Thank you so much for having taken the time to watch this video, leave a comment, and share your thoughts. These things mean more than you know and I'm very glad that our paths have crossed here.

One of the things that I find myself wondering at times is, how would it go if yesterday's leaders were placed in charge of today's efforts? Because back then, even though their understanding and knowledge was extremely limited and so many of their efforts were largely misguided, they were still willing to commit vast resources and immense levels of finances to them. Whereas today, our understanding and knowledge are so immense...and yet we're now hardly willing to commit any resources or finances at all. It seems like there ought to be some type of middle ground between the two extremes in which the mentally ill and the mentally disabled actually end up receiving all of the care and treatment that they actually need. Reply

Thank you so much for your continued interest in and support of the channel. We are in the process of making our own journey to help those suffering from mental illness and mental disability, we're going places, and it's very good to have you along for the ride :-)

Thank you so much for your kind words - they actually mean more than you know :-) Initially, I received a few complaints that the videos weren't narrated, but I've always very strongly felt that the presence of narration would detract too much from the nature and purpose of these videos. I have been deeply touched by the early success of the channel and the large amount of preliminary interest within it, though. If the channel continues to prosper then I'm beginning to contemplate the possibility of creating a podcast based upon it.

I can actually relate to that on a very personal level. I've had experiences in both state-run facilities and facilities that operated on a more private basis. And even in today's world, the state-run facilities are still much more frightening than the private ones. And I'm sure that there are no doubt exceptions to this...but these exceptions were not my own personal experiences. And when I was finally proscribed a psychotropic drug cocktail that has helped me maintain a degree of equilibrium between my symptoms and my circumstances, it happened while I was staying in a private facility.

@@atouristinthelandofreason5284 I’m so glad you found that combo. It can take a long time to find what works for you. A few years ago I was started on a low dose of Abilify and after a few weeks I felt better than I had in years. Unfortunately I began to gain weight very quickly and had to come off the meds. I now take 2 different antidepressant meds for my clinical depression. It is not as good as I was feeling on the Abilify but I could not afford to gain anymore weight! Took me over 9 months to get that 20 pounds off! Sure glad it was not more than that. As a clinical social worker I did watch for the weight gain and it happened so fast. Wanted to tell you as a psychiatric historian, you are the best. As I worked at a state op for 17 years I know how much history these places have. I’m not sure I could have handled working in that environment without the meds we have today. I remember the first Clozaril patient I had and seeing her recovery back to baseline was a tremendous thing. The meds are getting better and cleaner!

There have been numerous attempts pertaining to various closed and abandoned mental hospitals to convert them into centers for homelessness and shelters for those with nowhere to go who lack the means to take care of themselves. And generally, the problem in converting them to such use is NOT the government - it's all of the people living in the communities around the old hospitals. Everybody wants to do something for the homeless and to help take care of them, but NOBODY wants to have a homeless shelter of any kind in their neighborhood. Whenever a serious attempt is made toward using an old mental hospital in such ways, whole communities rise up to protest it because they have no desire to have a concentrated collection of homeless people in their midst. Everybody wants to deal with the homeless on a more positive basis...but nobody ever actually wants to do anything about it - especially when the potential solution involves them personally in any way.

Homeless people aren't necessarily nut bags. You may be though based on your suggestion.

I can both relate and sympathize with your experiences on a very personal level. I was born in 1968 myself, having seizures at birth, and was quickly diagnosed with an "undiagnosable brain dysfunction." As a result, I would go on to spend a large portion of my childhood on a strong, mind-altering drug, and in the years since I've had to be committed and spend time in 5 different psychiatric facilities in 3 different states - to a large degree due to the lasting negative effects of the medication I was place on during my childhood. In some ways - very difficult ways - I strongly suspect that it messed me up for life. They thought they were helping me back at the time, no doubt, but they didn't understand the effects of the medication as well as they thought they did, and it had lasting profound adverse effects on me. In some ways, it's taken me my entire life to get over my childhood...and in some ways, I know that not only have I still not been able to do so, but that I also, to some extent, probably never will. And thank you for having taken the time to both view and share a comment on the video, too. We are in the process of making a very important journey in our efforts within this RU-vid channel, and I'm very happy to have you along for the ride.

Today we have different facilities and different wards for the mentally ill and for the intellectually challenged - or at least we're supposed to. Sadly, in just about any prison cellblock across the country, you'll still find the mentally ill and the mentally disabled all being tossed into the same space together with little thought and absolutely no concern. For the most part, I really don't think that the majority of people today realize how similar the warehousing of the mentally ill and disabled in today's prison system resembles yesterday's constitutionalism in such ways...and yet we condemn that past while simultaneously casting a blind eye toward our own present. We learn so much by looking at today's difficulties through the eyes of yesterday, though, and if we'll simply be willing to learn from those that went before, we'll find ourselves being able to succeed in ways that they were never able to manage.

Actually, the ultimate fate of those poor patients who found themselves being buried in the cemeteries of these historic facilities might be one of the more fascinating facets of these videos on n more collective basis, because their ultimate treatment ranged so much from facility to facility. People were generally buried at them upon their eventual deaths because, at the time, they lacked family members who desired to have them buried and memorialized along with the rest of their families. And many of the people who died at these old historic facilities did so after having spent years and years and decades at them, over which time their families forgot about and lost interest in them. They typically only had index numbers on their headstones in lieu of names because, otherwise, families might feel shame in the public knowledge that a member of their family had spent time in an insane asylum or mental hospital. Over time and in many cases - and especially as the facilities began to be closed and become abandoned - those lists of index numbers were frequently either lost or destroyed, making it impossible to fully identify all the people buried at the cemeteries and to accurately locate where they might be buried within them. This would come to greatly complicate the efforts of future generations who, having overcome the stigma inherent in mental illness and disabilities, sought to identify and locate their ancestors. Some states would eventually allow groups of public volunteers to work together toward identifying the people buried within these cemeteries and to take steps toward both remembering and honoring them on a public basis. Large memorial stones containing the names of those buried there were erected in some of the old hospital cemeteries, and some would even go as far as constructing small parks to provide those who come to pay their respects a tasteful place in which to do so. Other states, citing issues rooted in "patient confidentiality," refused to allow the names of the people buried in their cemeteries to be known - even though many of them had died and been buried well over a hundred years ago. Here in Arkansas, where I myself live, the insane asylum (built in Little Rock in the 1880s) had its own cemetery, which continued to be utilized well into the 1900s after the facility had transitioned into a state hospital. When the facility was eventually demolished to make way for new construction projects, the remains of those now long-deceased patients were relocated to a vacant field elsewhere on the outskirts of town. They would then be moved again to another location due to more construction projects, though. Today, the remains of the patients still rest in that final field, and a large stone memorial was placed there back in 1978. There is no record of the names of those patients who have had such a hard time finding peace even after death, however, and the memorial stone simply reads, "In honor of the patients of the Little Rock Asylum and State Hospital." When I die, it is my wish to be cremated and to have my ashes scattered about on that field. Those are my people, and I feel that I might finally be able to find peace for myself in joining them.