Ever wondered what really went on in the mental hospital?
HERE IS THE TRUTH
The sensational new book from P and B Publishing
A S Y L U M B O U N D
Stuart Townsend
“God! Has it come to this?”
Meet the Hogarthian characters of St.Paul’s Mental Hospital: Grace, white-haired, with dementia, on her first day in this terrible place which has always haunted her dreams; Percy, the crystal radio buff, with severe depression; Harry, so damaged by his time in a Japanese POW camp; Walter and his wayward girl-friend Minnie; Tom, whose delusions involve coded messages via the BBC News; Betty, who won’t quite fit in her coffin, needing a bit of encouragement; and many others
Also meet Stuart, the novice student nurse, having to shave a corpse on his very first day and working fearfully on nights, struggling desperately for breath as a patient’s powerful hands grip his throat. How did a naïve novice cope with the alien world of the mental asylum in the 1970s?
Asylum Bound is a wild weird walk through his experiences in a bizarre world of terrible extremes. In this world there are no shades of grey, just extremes of aggression, sadness and institutionalisation - of both patients and staff. In this strange world Stuart discovers the origins of psychiatry and its terrible treatments - lobotomy, E.C.T., insulin shock and even aversion therapy for underwear snatchers! Yet he also discovers a rich vein of humour and humanity.
But the asylum system is dying on its feet. The patients are leaving, care is slowly moving into the community - and, thank God, the obvious abuses are on the decline. It is such a different world from anything he has experienced - a brave new world and a life-changing revelation.
For Stuart, what started as novelty, progressed to fascination but ended in tragedy. Sadly, Asylum Bound is all true.
HERE IS THE TRUTH
The sensational new book from P and B Publishing
A S Y L U M B O U N D
Stuart Townsend
“God! Has it come to this?”
Meet the Hogarthian characters of St.Paul’s Mental Hospital: Grace, white-haired, with dementia, on her first day in this terrible place which has always haunted her dreams; Percy, the crystal radio buff, with severe depression; Harry, so damaged by his time in a Japanese POW camp; Walter and his wayward girl-friend Minnie; Tom, whose delusions involve coded messages via the BBC News; Betty, who won’t quite fit in her coffin, needing a bit of encouragement; and many others
Also meet Stuart, the novice student nurse, having to shave a corpse on his very first day and working fearfully on nights, struggling desperately for breath as a patient’s powerful hands grip his throat. How did a naïve novice cope with the alien world of the mental asylum in the 1970s?
Asylum Bound is a wild weird walk through his experiences in a bizarre world of terrible extremes. In this world there are no shades of grey, just extremes of aggression, sadness and institutionalisation - of both patients and staff. In this strange world Stuart discovers the origins of psychiatry and its terrible treatments - lobotomy, E.C.T., insulin shock and even aversion therapy for underwear snatchers! Yet he also discovers a rich vein of humour and humanity.
But the asylum system is dying on its feet. The patients are leaving, care is slowly moving into the community - and, thank God, the obvious abuses are on the decline. It is such a different world from anything he has experienced - a brave new world and a life-changing revelation.
For Stuart, what started as novelty, progressed to fascination but ended in tragedy. Sadly, Asylum Bound is all true.
