Behind the Walls of the World’s Psychiatric Hospitals

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Episode 22 discusses the life, incarceration, and hospitalization of "Caesar Williams," a Black man originally from California who ended up in the Michigan penal system. Learn about Caesar's symptoms of mental illness and why his diagnosis changed over the years.

Source material: _The Protest Psychosis_ by Jonathan M. Metzl

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Episode 21 discusses the life and mental health of "Alice Wilson," a woman who was hospitalized three times at Ionia State Hospital during her lifetime. Originally diagnosed with schizophrenia, Alice would go on to benefit from the revisions in the DSM that changed her diagnosis to depression. Learn why Alice was originally sent to the hospital and what treatment finally worked for her.

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Episode 20 kicks off a new series on Ionia State Hospital (originally the Michigan Asylum for Insane Criminals). Learn about the early history of the hospital, Metrazol shock therapy, the drastic effects of deinstitutionalization, and the transition from hospital to prison.

All sources are cited in the episode transcript.

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Episode 19 discusses the crimes of serial killer Nathan Trupp, who killed three people in New Mexico and two people in California in the span of two days. Find out why he did it and why he was not sent to prison for these murders.

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Episode 18 discusses the story of the first mass murder in U.S. history - the story of Howard Unruh and his "Walk of Death" that would leave 13 people dead and 3 more injured.

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Episode 17 features the life, career, and hospitalizations of mathematician John Forbes Nash. This episode will briefly discuss the representaiton of his life in the film A Beautiful Mind but will focus primarily on the true story of his life.

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Episode 16 explores the life of one asylum resident, Dr. Henry T. Helmbold, who was committed to (and escaped from) the hospital many times. Learn what he was famous for and why he was so intent on escaping.

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This episode was supposed to be completed today, but...I found some perfect source material that I could not exclude! As a result, the planned episode on the People of the New Jersey State Lunatic Asylum, Part 2, will come out next week and will feature the story of two doctors (one real doctor, one self-proclaimed doctor) who were patients at Trenton. You will NOT want to miss it!

In the meantime, if you need more content from me, I encourage you to check out my interviews on the Hot Topics podcast, available at this link on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZNIth3tLqWSHpVL_Vw7Sc7Cgsn6z0EzQ

Stay tuned next week for more stories about people who lived behind the walls...

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Episode 14 discusses the life, career, and legacy of Dr. Phyllis Greenacre, who was the first person to investigate the controversial "treatments" promoted by Henry Cotton.

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Episode 13 discusses the investigation into Dr. Cotton's controversial "treatments," his own subsequent descent into madness, and the end of a terrible legacy.

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