Recovery Origins Blog 2018

This asylum was built in 1890. It appears to follow Kirkbride’s design. There are many “wings” on Waterbury Asylum that separate the administration from patients, that also allow a lot of natural sunlight with plenty of windows. Additionally, there are several round buildings (turrets), that would allow for plenty of natural light and air—with several windows. There was also a farm next to the asylum which some patients worked on and which also provided much of the patient’s food.  Photos:  https://i0.wp.com/vtdigger.wpengine.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/vermont-state-hospital-historic-main.jpg http://www.asylumprojects.org/index.php?title=File:waterburyVT001.jpg The intent was to relieve overcrowding at a privately-run Vermont asylum for the Insane in Brattleboro, VT (Brattleboro Retreat). Upon opening, the asylum was intended to treat those who are criminally insane, but eventually patients also included individuals with mental health disabiliti...

Vermont Brattleboro Retreat/Asylum Cynthia Seguin     When was this "asylum" opened, and what did it look like? Did it follow Kirkbride's design?    Retreat Healthcare was founded as the Brattleboro Retreat in 1834, by a $10,000 donation by Anna Marsh as attested to in her will. The hospital was the first facility for the mentally ill in Vermont, and one of the first ten psychiatric hospitals in the United States. The new facility was patterned on a Quaker concept called moral treatment, a daring departure in the care for the mentally ill (Asylum Projects, 2014). This building was built before Kirkbride design was known, but if you look at the composition of this building it is very similar to Kirkbride’s design   What was this institution's original intent?   The Brattleboro Retreat — the first mental hospital in northern New England, the fifth in America to offer “humane treatment,” and the first anywhere to operate an Asy...