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Started By
Message
Willowbrook: The Last Great Disgrace (NSFW)
Posted on 6/25/25 at 9:30 am
Posted on 6/25/25 at 9:30 am
So I will preface this by saying that this may need to go on the Movie board since it’s technically a documentary but it’s on Youtube so I’m not sure.
I went down a rabbit hole the other night about Willowbrook State School, which was the largest institution for special needs people in the US with around 6,000 patients and holy shite. I know there were institutions like this throughout the country with similar conditions but it is absolutely mind blowing that this was still occurring in the last 40-50 years and there are people alive today who unfortunately underwent unimaginable abuse in places like this. It’s also unbelievable that the average American is probably still unaware of this to this day considering it might be one of the worst things that has ever happened in this country. These poor children were subject to medical experimentation and literally just sat around all day with nothing to do except roll around in their own excrement.
I know the O-T’s feelings about Geraldo Rivera due to his more recent antics but thank God he exposed this place. This is not an easy watch but I’m interested to hear other people’s opinions especially considering the fact that mental healthcare is still such a huge unresolved issue. Also apologize for not knowing how to embed the video.
LINK
I went down a rabbit hole the other night about Willowbrook State School, which was the largest institution for special needs people in the US with around 6,000 patients and holy shite. I know there were institutions like this throughout the country with similar conditions but it is absolutely mind blowing that this was still occurring in the last 40-50 years and there are people alive today who unfortunately underwent unimaginable abuse in places like this. It’s also unbelievable that the average American is probably still unaware of this to this day considering it might be one of the worst things that has ever happened in this country. These poor children were subject to medical experimentation and literally just sat around all day with nothing to do except roll around in their own excrement.
I know the O-T’s feelings about Geraldo Rivera due to his more recent antics but thank God he exposed this place. This is not an easy watch but I’m interested to hear other people’s opinions especially considering the fact that mental healthcare is still such a huge unresolved issue. Also apologize for not knowing how to embed the video.
LINK
9
Posted on 6/25/25 at 9:41 am to lsudave1
I had no idea.
"Willowbrook" is such a charming and peaceful sounding name and adding "state school" makes it sound even better. That is hard to watch.
6,000 people makes for a small city.
"Willowbrook" is such a charming and peaceful sounding name and adding "state school" makes it sound even better. That is hard to watch.
6,000 people makes for a small city.
Posted on 6/25/25 at 9:44 am to lsudave1
Maybe the push to get rid of mental institutions like this starting during the Reagan ear was a net positive. It dispersed the problems and forced more care from family members instead of concentrating the problem in one building.
Posted on 6/25/25 at 9:47 am to lsudave1
In the mid-80's, I was involved with some litigation involving the Fort Worth State School (most residences were mentally disabled and not psychiatric patients). It was a terrible place. Our client drowned in a bath tub, and to this day I think one of the workers drowned her.
Posted on 6/25/25 at 9:48 am to lsudave1
You should do a dive into the Arthur G. Dozier School for Boys.
It isn't for special needs children, but the things that went on there is sickening.
It isn't for special needs children, but the things that went on there is sickening.
Posted on 6/25/25 at 9:50 am to GumboPot
We did need to get rid of institutions like these but unfortunately we went too far and had nothing to substitute. And as a result many folks are left on their own.
Posted on 6/25/25 at 9:50 am to lsudave1
Willowbrook is the name of a crappy mall in Houston.
Posted on 6/25/25 at 9:51 am to GumboPot
quote:
Maybe the push to get rid of mental institutions like this starting during the Reagan ear was a net positive.
You're probably right.
With homelessness being a monumental problem, we hear a lot of people blaming it on Reagan for the closure of mental institutions.
Being homeless is a helluva bad situation but I wonder if sleeping under a bridge might be a step up from those horrible shithole institutions.
Posted on 6/25/25 at 9:55 am to lsudave1
I've watched it. The things mentally handicapped people had to go through for so many years is heartbreaking. This was an expose that needed to be done.
Posted on 6/25/25 at 10:02 am to LSUBFA83
quote:
We did need to get rid of institutions like these but unfortunately we went too far and had nothing to substitute
Agreed. I work in the field and I'm still somewhat of the opinion that there needs to be large institutions that provide long term care for psychiatric issues because now you can pretty much only receive care from a state mental institution if you've committed a crime (at least it's that way in Louisiana) which isn't really fair to those with mental illness who are not a threat to others. But as far as people with special needs go this is 100% NOT the solution.
Posted on 6/25/25 at 10:04 am to GumboPot
There is obviously no easy solution. Many of the people on the street today would/should be in a hospital of some sort. Money tho freedom etc
Posted on 6/25/25 at 10:05 am to F1y0n7h3W4LL
quote:
With homelessness being a monumental problem, we hear a lot of people blaming it on Reagan for the closure of mental institutions.
Being homeless is a helluva bad situation but I wonder if sleeping under a bridge might be a step up from those horrible shithole institutions.
From what I saw in that video sleeping under a bridge is almost paradise.
With that said, this is just part of the downside of the human condition. It will always exist. Diluting the problem seems to be a better solution than concentrating it, but I'm far from an expert on this issue.
Posted on 6/25/25 at 10:06 am to TexasTiger89
Our office/shop is not far away
Posted on 6/25/25 at 10:08 am to F1y0n7h3W4LL
quote:
Being homeless is a helluva bad situation but I wonder if sleeping under a bridge might be a step up from those horrible shithole institutions.
Just for the crazies though. The rest of society has to see all the blight now.
Posted on 6/25/25 at 10:09 am to F1y0n7h3W4LL
quote:
You're probably right.
With homelessness being a monumental problem, we hear a lot of people blaming it on Reagan for the closure of mental institutions.
I’ve never heard the blame placed on Reagan. I’ve heard it placed on Congress a lot.
Reagan pulled funding, but deinstitutionalization started in the 1960s.
And we need institutions, and better evaluation of people to determine if they’re capable of living in our society and caring for themselves, and not harming themselves or others.
Edit: the post below is correct.
This post was edited on 6/25/25 at 10:12 am
Posted on 6/25/25 at 10:11 am to GumboPot
quote:
Maybe the push to get rid of mental institutions like this starting during the Reagan ear was a net positive. It dispersed the problems and forced more care from family members instead of concentrating the problem in one building.
It dispersed them onto the streets to wreak havoc on all public spaces. Obviously you dont want abusive places like this, but there's got to be something in between this and the streets to help them.
Posted on 6/25/25 at 10:13 am to EvrybodysAllAmerican
quote:
but there's got to be something in between this and the streets to help them.
Posted on 6/25/25 at 10:15 am to EvrybodysAllAmerican
quote:
It dispersed them onto the streets to wreak havoc on all public spaces.
With regards to emptying psychiatric hospitals treating severe psychiatric disorders yes I agree. The patients at Willowbrook though had Autism, Downs Syndrome, MR and even some just had cerebral palsy or muscular dystrophy and were mistaken for being mentally handicapped. Those people were harmless and they were treated like complete shite.
Posted on 6/25/25 at 10:43 am to lsudave1
That is painful to watch for even 1 minute. Those poor children. It's a sad and fallen world.
Posted on 6/25/25 at 11:13 am to GumboPot
quote:
Maybe the push to get rid of mental institutions like this starting during the Reagan ear was a net positive. It dispersed the problems and forced more care from family members instead of concentrating the problem in one building.
If you like tons of cities across America having swarms of mentally deranged people wandering around homeless and ultimately spending just as much tax money on the police, hospitals and social workers constantly dealing with them, it was great policy.
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