The Lives They Left Behind: Suitcases from a State Hospital Attic by Darby Penney


The Lives They Left Behind: Suitcases from a State Hospital Attic
Title : The Lives They Left Behind: Suitcases from a State Hospital Attic
Author :
Rating :
ISBN : 1934137146
ISBN-10 : 978-1934137147
Language : English
Format Type : and 2 more , Kindle Edition, Hardcover, Paperback
Number of Pages : 208 pages

The Lives They Left Behind is a deeply moving testament to the human side of mental illness, and of the narrow margin which so often separates the sane from the mad It is a remarkable portrait, too, of the life of a psychiatric asylumthe sort of community in which, for better and for worse, hundreds of thousands of people lived out their lives Darby Penney and Peter Stastnys careful historical almost archaeological and biographical reconstructions give us unique insight into these lives which would otherwise be lost and, indeed, unimaginable to the rest of us Oliver SacksFascinating The haunting thing about the suitcase owners is that its so easy to identify with them NewsweekWhen Willard State Hospital closed its doors in , after operating as one of New York States largest mental institutions for over years, a forgotten attic filled with suitcases belonging to former patients was discovered Using the possessions found in these suitcases along with institutional records and doctors notes from patient sessions, Darby Penney, a leading advocate of patients rights, and Peter Stastny, a psychiatrist and documentary filmmaker, were able to reconstruct the lives of ten patients who resided at Willard during the first half of the twentieth century

The Lives They Left Behind: Suitcases from a State Hospital Attic Reviews

  • Jan Fretz

    Okay if you are wanting information about this topic

  • Ggreeneyes

    This book puts in to perspective how much we have advanced in psychiatric care in the last century. After reading this i fully understand the stigma and fear people had of acknowledging any mental illness they or family had. When you learn of some of the patients histories

  • Diane

    Sad but amazing book

  • Jodi Lynn Harris

    These stories are heart wrenching and fascinating. I pray the author writes a second book and explores even stories hidden within the dusty suitcases.

  • bookbabe

    Great book.

  • Deb Matheson

    A great book to read for sure. Very sad how some of these poor patients were treated

  • Leslie A Sharkey

    A requested book at our library. Thank you.

  • C. Brown

    I didn't find this book nearly as interesting as its subject suggested it would be. There was so little information about the actual mental states, behaviour, and personalities of the suitcase people that I felt I was barely grazing the surface of the stories almost like