Windswept

Truly lovely.

Pirate dancing with light shafts.

Effing sweet!

Nice!!

I find it interesting and odd that they included entertainment, I mean the people there were nuts and probably usually drugged out of their minds. I highly doubt they'd know they had any entertainment at all.

Lil_Miss_Spelunker, I'd imagine that entertainment would be good for mentally ill people. Living in a hospital is probably stultefyingly boring, and lack of meaningful stimulation is bad for anybody's mind, healthy or otherwise. Also, I doubt everybody there was doped to the gills 24/7.

That is such an awesome contrast.

I love the colours in this picture!

motts are those holes in the roof or some sort of skylites?

Occupying leisure time is usually addressed in the treatment plan of any patient with mental health concerns. An important means of reducing undesirable behaviors is to institute incompatible desirable behaviors. When a patient has productive, interesting things to do, s/he is less likely to focus on self-injurious behaviors or delusional thoughts. So entertainment is critical in treatment and recovery. It can also be very therapeutic. Sometimes patients can act out their feelings or reveal them in art even though they cannot discuss them. Often a person who has difficulty speaking finds it easier to "sing" the words. Dancing provides physical activity that is useful (unlike banging one's head against a wall) AND does not sound like "work" in the way "exercise" does. It should go without saying how helpful humor can be. Patients can share their special talents and skills with one another and with staff, and thereby become less "different" and "other." Patients see themselves not as "sick" but as thinking, intelligent, talented individuals with much to contribute, and staff see this also. Entertainment is something to look forward to and may be an incentive to improved behavior . We should never think that someone is "too far gone" to enjoy or benefit from an activity, much less that he or she is unworthy or undeserving of an activity. Thinking like that is one step on the road to even further disenfranchisement, isolation, and abuse of persons with mental illness.

My uncle worked the movie projector...I was about 4 years old (1961). He would take me, my sister, and his three daughters to see the nights show. I think I was too young to really understand where we were sitting in the dark, the five of us girls, ages 4-14 along with the patients who quietly filed in. I know I never felt afraid, but just a confusion of where exactly I was and who all those people were who couln't go home after the show.

That auditorium was filled with cusioned theater seats. There were many great productions put on for staff and patients by a combination of staff and patients. It was a great motivator to stay out of trouble so you could be in the show. The backstage area had dressing rooms and costume areas. Before Ypsi closed it was in great condition for an old building. The floors were polished the bathrooms clean and it had nice curtains and artwork everywhere. It wasn't always a torn up ruin. And we had a lot of activities and parties for the patients. I worked there until the closure and have many fond memories of my patients and co-workers.

The hospital had everything, dentist, hair salon, gym. Every thing we needed

The facility I was at also had a bowling alley and theater. We weren't that crazy....at least I don't think so.

ya know theres those people out there that want pictures of birds and horses on there walls. me iwant stuff like this on my wall. everything on opacity. thanks motts.

When I came here when I was in highschool with my friends, at night. This room was the first I recall, and even though it was darker than dark, i could make out what it looked like and this is exactly what I seen. Truly amazing