Caged Room

Amazing photo! I love the natural green and the industrial mesh... the combination is really striking... Is that a soap dispenser I see...OVER the bed?!?!

neato perspective.

If not over the bed, then how could one swing from such a lovely soap dispenser?

...I do believe it's a lamp...

No shit, sherlock?

Would you put a patient who is dangerous ( to themselves or others ) in a room with a hanging light ? Could these mesh doors have been more for observation than detention ?

Well, Psych, this area has probably been stripped down from the way it was set up when the hospital was operating. Who knows? Looks pretty grim now, that's fer sher!

Judderman,I beg to disagree, and Sherlock knows shit. :-)

ROFLMBO! ;0)

Well, I guess you could put soap in there, if you want your sheets to smell nice ;)

Nevermind the "storage" idea.

Powerful pic, makes you wonder if this was an observation room.

I think this is where they put the masturbators. Anybody else guilty?

wow it's hard to believe that they kept human beings caged up like that. i think it's cruel even if they weren't in their right mind

well if you think that in the last century women who got pregnant were considered insane and put into these places and they were also breaking the law anyone could have been in one of these caged rooms!!

The hanging lamp gives me the idea of maybe these rooms for the ones that had to be heavily medicated and maybe secured to the iron railings of the beds. That would explain the fact that there isn't a safe way to feed these patients if they were strapped down, in strait jackets maybe and on I.V.'s

That large contraption seen above the light, is that a heating duct of some sort?

seems to me that the wire or iorn ( what is this stuff made of? ) mesh could cause someone to hurt themselves if they were to have a severe psychotoic break. I mean they could put their fingers through the mesh and really do some damage to their fingers. maybe I am wrong, at least i hope I am in error.

i can't imagine having to stay caged in that room for years and years.

That's not a hospital room, it's a prison cell.

I agree with Amy.....Looks to be a more long the lines of a cell. But then the hanging light still would not make much sense.
but it could have been installed later if they did change the use for the room

If I have read the comments from others correctly, this was a forensics unit. That would explain the use of this type of mesh doors. If you had ever had to work in a forensic mental health unit before medications were readily available, you would have been quite thankful for the strong wire mesh doors.

Man 0r beast !!!! just what are we going to think of next. are we realy that sick.

ha ha ha a little boy is in that pic

love the pic- yes a cage - has any one thought maybe not all clients like to be with others????I know about the rooms for patients that had issue with others

Judgment is coming. Repent before it's too late! Destroying the evidence and making jokes will not save you for somtimes the children must pay for the sins of the parents, yes even up to 10 generations. This I promise you! For your evil has no limitations.

Judgment is coming. Repent before it's too late! Destroying the evidence and making jokes will not save you for somtimes the children must pay for the sins of the parents, yes even up to 10 generations. This I promise you! For your evil has no limitations.

Right On! Whitehawk is right. Also, this type of room was used for incoming patients being braught in many women were braught in for embarrassing thier families and crimes against the church ( CATHOLIC ). Thier crime was either having sex or getting pregnant out of wedlock. Most men were locked up for not knowing thier place i.e. blue collars dating rich or blacks dating whites. True criminalswere sent to Niantic Women's Prison and the men to Cheshire Penitentary. In both Niantic and Cheshire they had psychiatric wards. It is for the dangerously and criminally insane that are/were housed in Cheshire and have and occasionally still escape that have been the ongoing topic of town meetings for decades. NSH was never for the criminally insane. So. many of those being braught in by family entered the administration area. The marble was set up to convey both authority and assurance. While assuring them they were doing the right thing it made them feel they had no choice. To assure thier silence in the future they

received payment. The amount usually coincided with the going rate for a prostitute which in the 1980's was $50. This practice was discontinued in 1989 and decided that all involved were criminally guilty of abuse, negligence, and welfare endangerment. Families refused to come forward because they could not admit to themselves they had sold thier relatives into such an existance. As they attempted to cover it all up more ugly truths came to light. They released all patients that had been wrongfully imprisoned. The problem was most were incapable of caring for themselves. They set up housing programs and outreach clubs for the mentally ill like Reliance House. Now, as for these rooms with mesh doors they were used for intake. The new patients were usually uncoopertive to being wrongly imprisoned. They had such off the wall notions such as being Americans and squaking off about some constitutional rights being violated. Connecticut did a complete check of the state's constitution. They decided they were in the

right. As the patients were braught to intake they had thier clothes violently ripped off. Then they were literally thrown into the room and the door slammed. Then using a 5gal. pail they threw hot water on them they were instructed to soap down if they did not comply they would be stunned via a cattle prod. Then the door opened and the staff would soap them up making sure they cleaned the cavities which they logged as a medical intake exam. On occasion patients died which were logged as suicides. All dead bodies were incinerated along with all trash. Those ashes were put into a compost pile outside which was used as fertilizer for the property which was mixed with horse and cow maneure. The basement was used for electroshock therapy and experimental brain surgeries some were lobotomies and some were not. Most were conducted for the purpose of internship. The interns came from New London and Backus Hospital. The basementwas the last resort for only those who were die hards. Meds and torture didn't work.

The preferred method for females was to surgically remove thier ovaries and then prostitute them out. This served to supplement the staff'sincome. This is where the tunnels came into play. Not only were they used as underground passages but there is a tunnel which leads to the houses across the street where the Doctors resided. This was also where the Doctors raped many of thier female patients. They collected cash payments from colleagues. The women were heavily sedated to make them more cooperative and less likely to remember names, faces, dates, or times. This is why whenever someone is admitted to a psychiatric facility or floor they are asked the day, date, year, time, and who the Governor and/or president is. Check in later as I tell you more about Connecticut's evil history which NSH only plays a small part in which the rich and famous abuse and oppress the poor and minority class. Find out what was really meant by the term middle class and why it's considered extinct. Were they really evil embassadors

*stares at Blackhawk and whitehawk, who I'm assuming are the same person*

I...I don't know if I should laugh or cry at the fact that you took so much time to write a four part pile of crap.

Woowee Lynn. Got a live wire here. I think I'd save my breath this time though. Not worth the pounding headache you're sure to get.

*hands out aspirins* Just in case. :)

Whitehawk and Blackhawk:

Do you have any references or websites that I can go to to read up on the strange and twisted medical history of Connecticut ?

Signed: An American Soldier stationed in Gemany.

Thats Germany not Gemany.

Signed: An American Soldier stationed in Germany.

**** =8-o ****

Have been looking at this site for awhile,Motts fantastic pictures. Commets make the site all the more enjoyable. Except the last few from whitehawk, love the running soap dispenser joke.

Very dramatic with the Black n' Whites Motts!

I find it interesting that these doors are in a mental health facility. When you look at the doors in these types of places they do not let the light in, they are not open in any substantial way and yet these allow so much contact between the patient and the staff. I just wonder what the thinking behind this particular type of door was.

unbelievable shot like always i love historical buildings keep up the good work:)

my grandmother worked here for a long time and she told me of locking people in these cages when they acted up and attacked the staff so this is what she was most likely referring to

it wouls hurt if someone inside ran into the door but i love the pictures as always motts you have entrigued me again

Molly and I saw lots of rooms like this at
Cederwood State Hospital. Because of the types of patients housed there saftey was
paramount.

Over three years later, I'm still giggling at the whole whitehawk/blackhawk narrative. That sh*t is HILARIOUS (at least if you're trying to be taken seriously)! Cattle prods and ovary-removals? Bahahahaha!

Honestly, someone should have been into short fiction rather than website commentary. It's pretty rough around the edges, but creative enough to be the basis for an interesting short story.

Despite all my rage I'm still just a rat in a cage-Smashing Pumpkins,

Neat

The more I read comments on this site the more I realize that people do not know how to reasearch! Instead of guessing, you dont you research it? Also, im sure everyone here knows that it is illegal to break and enter. Sure, I would love to visit as much as the next person. But its people that break and enter that make abandomed buildings be torn down. Thats just not fair to anyone. These are beautiful peices of history. Idots!!