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People who we have thought to be mentally unwell have been people who we think fall outside of the norms of acceptable behavior in a given place and time

A report stated that Woodlands "was a perfect place for perpetrators seeking an opportunity to physically and sexually abuse children and adults who were silent, unable to complain, not knowing how or to whom to report or who would, in many instances, not be believed. Severe punishment and threats were made to dissuade children from reporting abuse."

Ruby Jean Sharp was born in a time when being developmentally disabled could mean growing up behind locked doors and barred windows and being called names like retard and moron. Born with Down syndrome, Ruby Jean is at first lovingly cared for by her grandmother. After her grandma dies, her mother has her institutionalized in Woodlands School in New Westminster, BC.

It is here in an institution that opened in 1878, and was originally called the Provincial Lunatic Asylum, that Ruby Jean learns to survive isolation, boredom, and every kind of abuse. Just when she can hardly remember if she was ever happy, she learns about perseverance from an old crow...

A History of Mental Illness in Canada

Radical Therapies

Home Care

De-institutionalization

First Nations

Throughout history, those considered mentally ill were kept at home. Prayers and home remedies were used to try to "cure" the person. If the families could afford it, they would hire nurses to take care of the person. In some houses, separate living spaces were built outside of the home for when the mentally troubled became difficult to manage or violent.

In the 1900s, more radical ways to treat mental illness were introduced. These methods included: electroconvulsive therapy, drugs to induce convulsions and the surgical procedure of lobotomy.

These methods were very controversial and led to protests.

First Nations viewed mental trouble as a sign that someone had lost balance with the cosmos or the group.

To help bring balance back to the person, the suffering could be acted out by the group to bring peace.

Access to more sophisticated drugs has helped many mental health problems become manageable and more patients able to live more independently.

Starting in the 1960s, the governments no longer wanted to pay the hospital costs and asylums had a very bad reputation.

However, the rate that patients were leaving was too fast and as a result, communities had a lot of difficulty providing adequate services for those who need it.

1900s

1800s

1600-1700

Before 1600

1800

1900s

1960s

Psychopharmacology

Asylum Treatment

Early European Settlers

Early European settlers in Canada (1600s and 1700s) thought that mental troubles were linked to demonic possession and God's will. Bizarre behaviour was often blamed on demons or the devil. People prayed to God to end the suffering caused by mental troubles.

In the 1800s, "lunatic asylums" appeared across Canada. Psychiatrists believed that carefully constructed and run lunatic asylums could cure many forms of madness. They established strict routines of work, leisure activities, religious prayer and medication. Psychiatrists hoped that by removing the patients from their home and by controlling their environment that it would cure the patients.

Overcrowding of asylums soon became a problem. Some patients stayed for months, some for years and some for their whole life.

These institutions were not very successful. There are many recorded incidents of wrongful confinement, violence towards patients and surgical experimentation.

Near the end of the 1800s, asylums were considered to be backward institutions, but they were still accepting many patients...

In the 1900s, new drugs were introduced to help treat patients with mental illness (mostly mood swings and emotional disorders). Most of the drugs had negative side effects. However, the use of drugs meant many patients didn't need to stay in hospitals.

Woodlands school first opened in 1878 under the name of "Provincial Asylum for the Insane." At best, there were about 12 teachers for 1500 residents.

Soon after it opened, a report was written with the following description of the school: "The place is gloomy in the extreme, the corridors narrow and somber, the windows high and unnecessarily barred... The establishment exceedingly overcrowded... The patients being herded together more like catle than human brings."

The residents were labeled as "severely or profoundly retarded" or as "morons." Some were not mentally disabled at all, but had physical disabilities or behaviour problems which were only made worse by the isolation, monotonous environment and lack of normal human interactions. Most of the residents had no contact with the outside community.

The residents had practically no control over any aspect of their own lives. They were treated as if they were unable to speak for themselves or had any intellectual insight whatsoever. Some children were used for drug experiments and genetic research - experiments known today to be quite painful.

Woodlands School closed in 1996.

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