The Lives They Left Behind: Suitcases from a State Hospital Attic - Hardcover

Darby Penney; Peter Stastny

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1934137073 ISBN 13: 9781934137079

Publisher: Bellevue Literary Press, 2008

Synopsis

A stunning achievement that] . . . illuminates the tragedy of our treatment of those with mental and emotional problems.-Robert Whitaker, author of Mad in America More than four hundred abandoned suitcases filled with patients' belongings were found when Willard Psychiatric Center closed in 1995 after 125 years of operation. In this fully-illustrated social history, they are skillfully examined and compared to the written record to create a moving-and devastating-group portrait of twentieth-century American psychiatric care. Darby Penney is a leader in the human rights movement for people with psychiatric disabilities. Peter Stastny is a psychiatrist and documentary filmmaker. Lisa Rinzler is a prizewinning cinematographer.

About this title

Review:

The Lives They Left Behind is a deeply moving testament to the human side of mental illness, and of the narrow margin which so often separates the sane from the mad. It is a remarkable portrait, too, of the life of a psychiatric asylum the sort of community in which, for better and for worse, hundreds of thousands of people lived out their lives. Darby Penney and Peter Stastny’s careful historical (almost archaeological) and biographical reconstructions give us unique insight into these lives which would otherwise be lost and, indeed, unimaginable to the rest of us.” Oliver Sacks

Fascinating. . . . The haunting thing about the suitcase owners is that it’s so easy to identify with them.” Newsweek

In their poignant detail the items helped rescue these individuals from the dark sprawl of anonymity.” New York Times

[The authors] spent 10 years piecing together a handful of poignant biographical narratives, tracking down medical records, talking to former staff and using artifacts from the suitcases as clues to the lives these patients lived before they were nightmarishly stripped of their identities.” Newsday

This book should be required reading for anyone who struggles with the treatment of mental illness in community settings.” New England Journal of Medicine

A powerful indictment of healthcare for the mentally ill.” Publishers Weekly

No reader will walk away untouched by these compelling portraits.” Ronald Bassman, Ph.D., author of A Fight to Be: A Psychologist's Experience from Both Sides of the Locked Door

An important and profoundly moving story. . . . The exquisite details we learn about the patients’ lives the color of lace on a dress, a plea to a bishop, the photo of a wife who died convey the particulars of their humanness, their strengths, and their tragedies, and a chapter revealing sad and frightening parallels between long-ago and current treatment of many people called mentally ill should shock us all into action.” Paula J. Caplan, Ph.D., author of They Say You’re Crazy: How the World’s Most Powerful Psychiatrists Decide Who’s Normal

Darby Penney and Peter Stastny have . . . performed an important service, reclaiming these individuals from the nameless, faceless fate of being only mental patients.’” Judi Chamberlin, author of On Our Own: Patient Controlled Alternatives to the Mental Health System

As we have yet to provide a full measure of support and treatment to men and women diagnosed with mental illnesses, The Lives They Left Behind offers a sobering reminder of past tragic errors, lest, in our search for new therapies, we lose sight of what should matter most: our sense of common humanity.” Drew Days III, Alfred M. Rankin Professor of Law at Yale Law School, former Solicitor General in the Clinton Administration and Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights in the Carter Administration

In unpacking the prior lives stored in these suitcases, Darby Penney and Peter Stastny turn remembrance into an act of alchemy.” Kim Hopper, Ph. D., author of Reckoning with Homelessness

A unique and mesmerizing evocation of lives erased . . . at once unnerving, heartbreaking, and a bitter testament to an era in psychiatric history whose legacy is all too present today.” Gail A. Hornstein, Ph.D., author of To Redeem One Person Is to Redeem the World: The Life of Frieda Fromm-Reichmann

The Lives They Left Behind is a tour de force, a must-read for anyone concerned with social justice, human rights and historical reclamation. Darby Penney and Peter Stastny brilliantly rescue ten people who spent time at Willard State Hospital from certain historical anonymity and silence by giving them voice to speak for themselves. Their riveting accounts invite us to explore the turmoil and strengths of their inner terrain while mourning the erosion of hope after years of captivity and inhumane treatment in the name help’ and under the guise of best interest.’ The Lives They Left Behind is more than a testament to the past, it is a wake up call to our collective conscience, to uphold the spirit and dignity of all human beings.” Laura Prescott, President and Founder, Sister Witness International Inc.

A stunning achievement.” Robert Whitaker, author of Mad in America (from the Foreword)



“The Lives They Left Behind is a deeply moving testament to the human side of mental illness, and of the narrow margin which so often separates the sane from the mad. It is a remarkable portrait, too, of the life of a psychiatric asylum―the sort of community in which, for better and for worse, hundreds of thousands of people lived out their lives. Darby Penney and Peter Stastny’s careful historical (almost archaeological) and biographical reconstructions give us unique insight into these lives which would otherwise be lost and, indeed, unimaginable to the rest of us.” ―Oliver Sacks

“Fascinating. . . . The haunting thing about the suitcase owners is that it’s so easy to identify with them.” ―Newsweek

“In their poignant detail the items helped rescue these individuals from the dark sprawl of anonymity.” ―New York Times

“[The authors] spent 10 years piecing together a handful of poignant biographical narratives, tracking down medical records, talking to former staff and using artifacts from the suitcases as clues to the lives these patients lived before they were nightmarishly stripped of their identities.” ―Newsday

“This book should be required reading for anyone who struggles with the treatment of mental illness in community settings.” ―New England Journal of Medicine

“A powerful indictment of healthcare for the mentally ill.” ―Publishers Weekly

“No reader will walk away untouched by these compelling portraits.” ―Ronald Bassman, Ph.D., author of A Fight to Be: A Psychologist's Experience from Both Sides of the Locked Door

“An important and profoundly moving story. . . . The exquisite details we learn about the patients’ lives―the color of lace on a dress, a plea to a bishop, the photo of a wife who died―convey the particulars of their humanness, their strengths, and their tragedies, and a chapter revealing sad and frightening parallels between long-ago and current treatment of many people called mentally ill should shock us all into action.” ―Paula J. Caplan, Ph.D., author of They Say You’re Crazy: How the World’s Most Powerful Psychiatrists Decide Who’s Normal

“Darby Penney and Peter Stastny have . . . performed an important service, reclaiming these individuals from the nameless, faceless fate of being only ‘mental patients.’” ―Judi Chamberlin, author of On Our Own: Patient Controlled Alternatives to the Mental Health System

“As we have yet to provide a full measure of support and treatment to men and women diagnosed with mental illnesses, The Lives They Left Behind offers a sobering reminder of past tragic errors, lest, in our search for new therapies, we lose sight of what should matter most: our sense of common humanity.” ―Drew Days III, Alfred M. Rankin Professor of Law at Yale Law School, former Solicitor General in the Clinton Administration and Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights in the Carter Administration

“In unpacking the prior lives stored in these suitcases, Darby Penney and Peter Stastny turn remembrance into an act of alchemy.” ―Kim Hopper, Ph. D., author of Reckoning with Homelessness

“A unique and mesmerizing evocation of lives erased . . . at once unnerving, heartbreaking, and a bitter testament to an era in psychiatric history whose legacy is all too present today.” ―Gail A. Hornstein, Ph.D., author of To Redeem One Person Is to Redeem the World: The Life of Frieda Fromm-Reichmann

“The Lives They Left Behind is a tour de force, a must-read for anyone concerned with social justice, human rights and historical reclamation. Darby Penney and Peter Stastny brilliantly rescue ten people who spent time at Willard State Hospital from certain historical anonymity and silence by giving them voice to speak for themselves. Their riveting accounts invite us to explore the turmoil and strengths of their inner terrain while mourning the erosion of hope after years of captivity and inhumane treatment in the name ‘help’ and under the guise of ‘best interest.’ The Lives They Left Behind is more than a testament to the past, it is a wake up call to our collective conscience, to uphold the spirit and dignity of all human beings.” ―Laura Prescott, President and Founder, Sister Witness International Inc.

“A stunning achievement.” ―Robert Whitaker, author of Mad in America (from the Foreword)

About the Author:

Darby Penney is an accomplished poet, a national leader in the human rights movement for people with psychiatric disabilities and a former state mental health official who has experienced the mental health system inside and out. Peter Stastny, author of numerous publications, is a psychiatrist and documentary filmmaker. Lisa Rinzler is a prize-winning cinematographer (Three Seasons, Menace II Society, No Direction Home: Bob Dylan) whose photographs illustrate the book alongside reproductions of excerpted medical records and images found among the suitcase contents. Robert Whitaker is the author of Mad in America: Bad Science, Bad Medicine, and the Enduring Mistreatment of the Mentally Ill.

About this edition

• Publisher: Bellevue Literary Press
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 1934137073
• ISBN 13: 9781934137079
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 205