ATHENS LUNATIC ASYLUM by Suzanne Posey
The Ridges,
formally Athens Lunatic Asylum operated in Athens, OH from 1874 until
1993. The bricked architecture was
characteristic from lavish Victorian-era with a “bat-wing” floor plan. It was
housed on over 1000 acres of land and the building itself was 853 feet long and
60 feet in width. Seven cottages were built to house more patients. The males lived in the left wards and
females in the right. Each had their own dining halls as well. The facility
sustained itself with its own farm and livestock.
The patients
included Civil War veterans likely suffering from PTSD, rebellious
children, elderly parents whose family
did not want to care for anymore, women deemed unable to run their farms and
violent criminals who experienced mental illness.
During the first three years of operation,
the leading cause of insanity among the male patients was masturbation. This
was a common belief in the 19th century. For women, the three
leading causes of insanity were puerperal condition, change of life, and
menstrual derangements. Originally The
Ridges was a calm and peaceful place. The grounds were like a park with gardens
and water fountains. Patients were put to work in the greenhouses, orchards,
with the livestock, or in the carriage shop. The more sedate were also allowed
recreational activities like boating, painting, dancing and picnics.
However, it
became overcrowded and the treatments for most became horrendous as this asylum
was known for the lobotomy procedure, as well as hydrotherapy, electric shock,
and psychotropic drugs. By the 1950's, the Ridges housed almost 2000 patients,
which was over 3 times it capacity. The staff number never changed though. By
the 1980'’, treatments like the lobotomy was frowned upon the buildings began
to be donated to Ohio University with 300 patients left.
During its time, open, many of the patients were never
discharged and there are approximately 1,930 people buried at the three
cemeteries. It is said to be haunted with one corpse stain that continues to
reappear.
For ore information see:
http://hauntedathensohio.com/the-ridges-mental-health-institution/
Excellent post, Suzanne. It seems to me that one of the commonalities for these large old institutions is that there were a lot of things that they "got right", such as being self-sustaining with a farm, or peaceful, bucolic environments, despite the fact that many of those admitted were not truly having a mental health crisis as we know them to be now (masturbation). Alas, the sheer volume of residents, combined with the scientific "innovations" of the day (like lobotomy) seemed to transform them into warehouses of discarded and mistreated individuals. Although the reforms of the 1960's did a great deal to get many of these people out of institutions, another problem was created in its place- namely, there was a period of about 25 years where people who had left these large hospitals did not have access to the mental health services that they needed. It seems like it is still an evolving process.
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