The Lives They Left Behind: Suitcases from a State Hospital Attic (Penney Darby)(Paperback)

The acclaimed portrait of institutionalized patients whose abandoned possessions recall their forgotten lives"A deeply moving testament to the human side of mental illness." -Oliver SacksWhen Willard State Hospital closed its doors in 1995, after operating as one of New York State's largest mental institutions for over 120 years, a forgotten attic filled with suitcases belonging to former patients was discovered. Using the possessions found in these suitcases along with institutional records and doctors' notes from patient sessions, Darby Penney, a leading advocate of patients' rights, and Peter Stastny, a psychiatrist and documentary filmmaker, were able to reconstruct the lives of ten patients who resided at Willard during the first half of the twentieth century. The Lives They Left Behind tells their story. In addition to these
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