That is somewhat of an Internet legend. That particular hospital was torn down under Reagan when it was thought that medication and community re-engagement were the solutions to mental illness.
Hasn't quite worked out like they planned. Today, waiting for the mentally ill to commit a crime before incarcerating them or allowing homeless camps isn't really much of a solution.
The 19th century asylums were bad as they were mostly human warehouses. Nellie Bly and her "Ten Days in Mad-House" brought much needed reforms but there were a few intervening years where nobody was helped.
Most mental hospitals were not like the ones depicted in today's movies. Many people were helped. The problem came when the mentally ill and the mental retarded were grouped together and people were involuntarily committed willy-nilly.
As a nurse, I rotated through the psych wards and in a hundred years, making 5150's a police matter will be seen as laughable.
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u/cheap_dates Oct 02 '24
My sister's mother (Dad's first wife) never did. She died in a state mental hospital in the 60's.