Questionable Treatments

Known at different times over the facility's 135 year run as the California Home for the Care and Training of Feeble Minded Children (1883), Sonoma State Home (1909), Sonoma State Hospital (1953), and Sonoma Developmental Center (1986), this facility has a dark history of abuse, selfish experimentation, and corruption.  Even worse, although overcrowded, there were more staff members than many institutions had yet this one seemingly willfully chose to be absolutely horrible.  Join us to find out exactly what was going on, and why the doctors wanted kids' spinal fluid!
 
Sources:
https://www.sonomanews.com/2018/12/31/sonoma-developmental-center-quietly-closes-its-doors/
https://www.dds.ca.gov/newsletter/honoring-the-people-of-the-sonoma-developmental-center/
https://noehill.com/sonoma/nat2000001180.asp
https://permitsonoma.org/regulationsandlongrangeplans/longrangeplans/sonomadevelopmentalcenter/sitehistory#:~:text=Between%201909%20and%201952%2C%20a,house%20growing%20numbers%20of%20clients.
https://ec.ac.lsa.umich.edu/boxes.html
https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/95067129dbba4a5cb3c9661b7f806629
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/a-dark-chapter-in-medical-history-09-02-2005/#:~:text=Lederer%20read%20the%20study%20that,cerebral%20palsy%2C%22%20adds%20Lederer.&text=But%20some%20of%20the%20patients,Gas%2C%22%20says%20Karen.
https://www.sonomanews.com/2018/11/14/after-127-years-farewell-to-an-institution/
https://www.justice.gov/crt/case-document/file/1210196/dl?inline=
https://californiawatch.s3.amazonaws.com/files/CIR_WrongHands_ebook_Jan.pdf
https://www.kpbs.org/news/midday-edition/2012/02/27/investigation-alledges-abuse-cover-calif-centers-d
https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/body/csf-cerebrospinal-fluid
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/csf-leak/symptoms-causes/syc-20522246
https://cslea.com/affiliate/hospital-police-association-of-california/#:~:text=HPAC,were%20designated%20as%20Developmental%20Centers

How does a state funded school become a dark hiding place for society to store its differently abled with no classes, no care, and no hope?  Join us as we discuss one of the most disgusting institutions in American history made famous by Geraldo Rivera's investigative piece Willowbrook: The Last Great Disgrace.  Spoiler:  State funded institutions usually go bad because of state funding.
 
Sources used:
 
https://criticaldebateshsgj.scholasticahq.com/article/141852-willowbrook-state-school-institutional-abuse-medical-ethics-and-the-rise-of-disability-rights-in-the-united-states
https://kidstogether.org/institution-horrors-willowbrook/
https://www.qcc.cuny.edu/socialSciences/ppecorino/MEDICAL_ETHICS_TEXT/Chapter_7_Human_Experimentation/Case_Study_Willowbrook_Experiments.htm
https://research.uams.edu/irb/wp-content/uploads/sites/9/2023/01/Willowbrook-study-summary.pdf
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7335725/
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hepatitis-b/symptoms-causes/syc-20366802
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hepatitis-a/symptoms-causes/syc-20367007
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saul_Krugman#:~:text=4%20References-,Early%20life,University%20of%20Richmond%20in%201934.&text=He%20did%20his%20undergraduate%20work,(7706)%3A966%2D7.&text=Richmond%20in%201934.-,Education%20and%20career,New%20York%20University%20(NYU).
https://publications.aap.org/pediatrics/article/90/1/iv/57690/INTRODUCTION?autologincheck=redirected

This institution had an incredibly long run and made a lot of people who needed help very miserable.  This facility which began as a place to care for those in need eventually became a prison and a hunting ground for the predators who drew a paycheck and those who became their preferred henchmen.  Join us as we delve as deeply as we can handle into such a dark topic.
 
Sources referenced:
 
https://neurologytoday.aan.com/doi/10.1212/00132985-200412000-00017
chrome-extension://efaidnbmnnnibpcajpcglclefindmkaj/https://www.city.waltham.ma.us/sites/g/files/vyhlif12301/f/file/file/fernald_center_history.pdf
https://www.jstor.org/stable/25130086?seq=1
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/spoonful-sugar-helps-radioactive-oatmeal-go-down-180962424/
https://news.mit.edu/1994/fernald-0511
https://www.wgbh.org/news/local/2025-05-21/shocking-report-spotlights-mass-history-of-mistreating-disabled-people
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/americas-deep-dark-secret/
https://www.amazon.com/State-Boys-Rebellion-Michael-DAntonio/dp/074324513X Book: The State Boys Rebellion by Michael D’Antonio
https://below-the-surface.github.io/main.html
https://fernaldstateschool.com/buildings- to see the list and pictures of the buildings on the campus
https://newlearningonline.com/new-learning/chapter-6/supporting-material/goddard-on-iq
https://www.verywellmind.com/history-of-intelligence-testing-2795581
https://faculty.uml.edu/darcus/47.269/MATERIALS/fernale_globe1993.htm#:~:text=In%20the%20first%20battery%20of,harm%20blood%20and%20the%20spleen.
https://news.mit.edu/1994/concern-0112#:~:text=A%20third%20calcium%20study%2C%20also,0.75%20microcuries)%20of%20radioactive%20calcium)
https://archive.org/stream/humanradiationex00unit/humanradiationex00unit_djvu.txt

If there was an award for the most misleadingly named institution in American history, the Fairview Training Center would be hard to beat. Originally pitched as a school for vulnerable youth with mental and developmental disabilities, the only thing Fairview actually trained people in was survival. It rapidly devolved from a place of learning into a state-funded child prison. The vulnerable kids became inmates, and the staff exploited their labor and took joy in their torment.  Its like a mirror universe Hogwarts with Dementors instead of caretakers and the parents had to PAY to get their children out!
 
Sources, as usual:
 
https://www.opb.org/article/2020/11/16/oregon-history-in-the-shadow-of-fairview-documentary/
 
https://mn.gov/mnddc/parallels2/pdf/00s/08/08-Fairview_Report.pdf
 
https://www.wral.com/story/salem-cold-case-solved-decades-after-teen-found-murdered/17089079/

The asylums we have discussed so far still exist in some way or another until now.  Trans-Allegheny shut down in 1994 with no new location and no new name changes.  It was just gone.  Now it is probably the most famous location for ghost hunting and has been featured on every ghost show and YouTube channel we can think of.  So what is the truth and what actually went on there?  Join us to find out!
 
Sources used:
 
https://www.proquest.com/openview/4bf0e15889d8c331a931319ade6ab38f/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=18750
https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=58721
https://psychiatryonline.org/doi/full/10.1176/appi.ajp.2014.14060747
https://www.wboy.com/only-on-wboy-com/history-over-horror-what-life-was-really-like-inside-the-trans-allegheny-lunatic-asylum/

New Jersey State Lunatic Asylum, formerly known as New Jersey State Hospital at Trenton and currently known as Trenton Psychiatric Hospital, is still in operation today and was an early asylum founded by Dorothea Dix herself.  Don't let that give you hope, though, because one Henry Cotton got control everything changed.  Join us as Kim describes the unique medical treatment that started there and eventually spread to other facilities all around the world only for its popularity to come crashing back down!
 
Sources:
https://www.worldabandoned.com/trenton-psychiatric-hospital
 
https://www.jameslindlibrary.org/articles/surgery-for-the-treatment-of-psychiatric-illness-the-need-to-test-untested-theories/
 
https://the-line-up.com/trenton-psychiatric-hospital
 
https://psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/ajp.156.12.1982
 
https://www.princeton.edu/~paw/archive_new/PAW04-05/14-0511/features1.html
 
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/bjpsych-advances/article/abs/madhouse-a-tragic-tale-of-megalomania-and-modern-medicine-by-andrew-scull/B0FE6793396334945D76D826DCC2A16E
 
https://www.psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/ajp.156.12.1982#:~:text=Over%20the%20years%2C%20new%20treatments,in%201947%20psychosurgery%20became%20available

This time we are talking about some of the bizarre things that happened at Western State Hospital in Virginia.  From mysterious deaths and political intrigue to an early US Eugenics movement, Western State has been through quite a bit and is still around in a new form today.  Join us to find out what happened and to hear a married couple bicker - the most true love language!
 
Sources used are below:
https://scuablog.lib.vt.edu/2019/04/26/the-western-lunatic-asylum/
 
https://dbhds.virginia.gov/facilities/wsh/wsh-history/
 
https://www.wvencyclopedia.org/entries/1106#:~:text=The%20Weston%20State%20Hospital%20housed,the%20Trans%2DAllegheny%20Lunatic%20Asylum.
https://kids.kiddle.co/Western_State_Hospital_(Staunton,_Virginia)
https://anneswardson.com/the-dead-no-one-wanted-to-remember/
https://www.dhr.virginia.gov/historic-registers/132-0009/
https://uncommonwealth.lva.virginia.gov/blog/2014/11/19/the-asylum-poisonings-death-politics-and-low-cussedness-in-staunton/
https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/dejarnette-joseph-s-1866-1957/
https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/eugenic-sterilization-in-virginia/
https://commons.lib.jmu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1085&context=master201019

Byberry Asylum, otherwise known as The Philadelphia State Hospital at Byberry, was established in 1907 with the best of intentions.  Originally intended as a working farm for the mentally ill but eventually became the largest mental hospital in Pennsylvania before finally being shut down in 1990 after the horrific conditions inside because too much for the outside world to ignore.  Join us as Kim tells us about the history of Byberry and why a celebration was held when the campus was completely demolished in 2006.
 
All sources can be found below:
https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=fUiMt7yaZV0C&oi=fnd&pg=PA6&dq=byberry+mental+hospital&ots=GIL8vCdOai&sig=DFYif1Exp0aOuQbnLYO_Wcr8GNs#v=onepage&q=byberry%20mental%20hospital&f=false
 
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Byberry_State_Hospital/fUiMt7yaZV0C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=byberry+state+hospital&printsec=frontcover
 
https://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/essays/byberry-philadelphia-state-hospital/
 
https://pabook.libraries.psu.edu/literary-cultural-heritage-map-pa/feature-articles/best-intentions-byberry-asylum
 
https://www.nursing.upenn.edu/nhhc/nurses-institutions-caring/history-of-psychiatric-hospitals/
 
https://harrisburghistorical.org/items/show/27
 
https://www.phillymag.com/news/2015/06/28/byberry-mental-institution-survivors/
 
https://homeplatedontmove.com/2025/09/22/the-horror-and-tragedy-of-byberry-hospital/
 
https://allthatsinteresting.com/insane-asylums/4#:~:text=Medical%20procedures%20were%20commonly%20done,past%20patients%20are%20still%20remembered.
 
https://mn.gov/mnddc/parallels2/prologue/6a-bedlam/bedlam-life1946.pdf

In this first episode of Questionable Treatments we are exploring the history of insane asylums from their origin tied to medieval Almshouses all the way up to what we know from modern horror movies and ghost hunting shows.  We will also be digging into the history of Insulin Shock Therapy, Electroshock Therapy, and the Lobotomy.
 
All sources referenced can be found below:
https://www.almshouses.org/history-of-almshouses/
https://lambournalmshouses.org/the-history-of-englands-almshouses-from-medieval-origins-to-the-present/
https://socialwelfare.library.vcu.edu/issues/poor-relief-almshouse/
https://philadelphiaencyclopedia.org/essays/almshouses-poorhouses/
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC1470530/
https://trans-alleghenylunaticasylum.com/the-kirkbride-plan/?srsltid=AfmBOoriz56wKeHp3lA7UcRQf7Z0tAu6DID-0LSftP5EndmAw7wlF37_
https://www.mymichigan.org/about/news/healthdoseblog/the-history-of-mental-health-treatment/
https://www.cerebromente.org.br/n04/historia/sakel_i.htm
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/the-british-journal-of-psychiatry/article/dr-manfred-j-sakel-discoverer-of-insulin-shock-therapy-psychiatry-in-history/A7E933069C3B8206F78F8C316A785AAE
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4291941/
https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/1949/moniz/biographical/
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Walter-Jackson-Freeman-II
https://www.samhs.org.au/Virtual%20Museum/Medicine/drugs_nonsurg/ect/ect.html#:~:text=The%20heading%20of%20Dr.Birch's,ECT%20machine%20of%20Dr%20Birch
https://collection.sciencemuseumgroup.org.uk/objects/co531731/electroconvulsive-therapy-machine
https://litfl.com/history-of-ect/#:~:text=His%20lecture%20outlined%20extensive%20preclinical,and%20seizure%20classification%20(complete%20vs.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11205978/
https://www.psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/ajp.156.4.630
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8720400/
https://www.nurokor.com/blog/history-of-bioelectronic-medicine
https://psychiatryonline.org/doi/abs/10.1176/ajp.116.12.1112-2?download=true
https://psychiatryonline.org/doi/10.1176/appi.ajp-rj.2020.160103
Youtube videos
Convulsive therapy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myvMJxJa-Ts&list=PLCqWucufhQaHOe0b_dcvB4ZKYn-MygTIY&index=2
Shock therapy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBuwTpb8wZ8&list=PLCqWucufhQaHOe0b_dcvB4ZKYn-MygTIY
Prefrontal Lobotomy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TjPwETslJyc&t=347s