Since one of Canada's oldest mental institutions opened in 1858, treatments have radically changed, and community fears subsided as new drugs ended the screams formerly heard from behind the asylum’s walls and fences.
Published: The Globe and Mail, January 02, 1984
By DEBORAH JONES/DARTMOUTH, Nova Scotia
After more than 100 years of being the most feared establishment in Dartmouth, the old Nova Scotia Hospital is finally gaining some acceptance in the community.
The hospital, which celebrated its 125th anniversary in 1983, is one of Canada's oldest mental institutions. Since 1858, it has seen many changes in treatments, patients and - most significantly - in outsiders' attitudes toward patients. "When we were kids going past here to school you could hear (the patients) screaming," recalls linen clerk Verna Smith, who has lived near or worked at the hospital all her life. "We were terrified." The fear faded as she grew older, she says, and so did the screams of the patients from behind high fences after new drugs were discovered in the 1950s to treat psychiatric disorders.
Although patients were once incarcerated in the hospital for prolonged periods because no effective treatments were available, the average stay in most wards is now 50 days, says hospital administrator Harry Poulos.
Few doors are still locked. Craftwork and recreation programs, a swimming pool, gym and recreation room in new buildings have replaced the fenced sunning areas from which Mrs. Smith heard patients scream. A separate children's ward resembles a row of suburban houses.
And, since the 1950s, patients have had educational programs, says teacher Paul Giroux, adding that such changes accompanied a more accepting attitude on the part of community residents. "Now when I say I teach here, people no longer call my students 'crazies, nuts.' Now they're 'problem kids,' " Mr. Giroux says. "But I can remember when I was a kid growing up downtown. They had a siren on the roof. They turned it on when somebody escaped and we all scurried, because we were afraid."
Dr. Poulos explains that residents of the area tended to fear the asylum because "insanity was often mysterious, frightening, and equivalent to dangerous behavior. . . . I think the unlocking of the hospital and progress in treatment helped dispel that, but it's still there."
Halifax historian Joan Payzant remembers passing the hospital as a child. "They had these open cages. It was really awful to walk through the grounds when people were in them. They were walking up and down like caged animals. "People really were afraid of the hospital then. Now I think they're used to having (patients) in nearby group homes around town. . . . It's not the same feeling now, going through the area. You can tell (the patients) are drugged, but they're not aggressive like they used to be."
Laughlin Fredericks, a former Dartmouth alderman who has lived near the hospital most of his life, agrees that the institution is no longer frightening. "I think it's accepted more in the community than it was 15, 20 years ago. "When I was young, there were frightening aspects about the place. I used to walk by, going to events, and it was one of the scary places. Now, I doubt the kids even think of it. It's just another hospital."
Dr. Poulos says attitudes toward the hospital began to change in the 1950s after new drug therapy programs were developed to treat mental illnesses. "When I first came 25 years ago, the patient population was static and close to 600. It's 395 now," he says, and patients come and go regularly. "
In the 1950s the first tranquillizers were developed. That was the time we finally came up with a medication that had a direct effect in combating disease and bringing about improvement. We were able to treat and get response in a large number of persons suffering from illnesses such as schizophrenia. "With the tranquillizers, we saw an improvement in behavior, which was not necessarily an improvement from illness, but it reduced the amount of disturbances in behavior day by day, so we could enrich our treatment program and begin rehabilitation at an earlier stage.
Tranquillizers also allowed the unlocking of hospital doors." As part of the hospital's anniversary celebrations this year, community outreach programs were established. Display booths in malls describe treatment programs, hospital workers talk to students in schools and volunteer programs - a standard feature with 100 participants - have been widely publicized.
Partly, the new acceptance of the the mental hospital, may be because Dartmouth has grown up around the waterfront complex. What used to be a self-sufficient, 54-acre farm and secluded refuge has become an urban institution that depends on city residents for all services and goods. And in an area of high unemployment, it gives full-time jobs to 900.
The Nova Scotia Hospital, which was originally known as the Mount Hope Asylum, was founded at the urging of Dorothea Dix, a philanthropist concerned with mental health.
Before drug developments, treatment consisted of contributing to upkeep of the farm, having the luxury of time to recover, good nursing and electro-therapy, Dr. Poulos says. "Some diseases," he notes wryly, "improved spontaneously."
These days, the hospital provides a six-week rotating out-patient program for those able to continue living in the community. Chronically ill patients are admitted, and a drug dependency rehabilitation centre functions alongside the hospital.
All that remains of the original buildings is the north wing, a four- story stone structure intact on the outside but worn on the inside by never-ending renovations. For years, there has been talk of replacing the north wing with a modern building, Dr. Poulos says, but the economic recession has put such plans on a back burner again.
Copyright Deborah Jones 1984
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