My Trip to The Infamous Forest Haven Asylum
In late December 2017, I made a trip out to the not so abandoned Forest Haven Asylum located Laurel, MD. I took the trip with my partner in crime & awesome sister @ohmenlightened.
I have always been interested in abandoned structures and buildings. I also have an avid interest in instuitionilization (largely anti-) & also the paranormal and finally, the history of mental health care in the U.S. Therefore, what better place to visit than Forest Haven Asylum, where according to some stats a reported 1 in 12 residents admitted to the asylum died from clear cut cases of neglect & abuse.
Interesting that such a place is left rotting in ruin but relatively available for any adventurous soul to see. Why not bull doze it? The answer is unclear. To access forest haven one must trek through the woods and park their vehicle at another location. There is one rather obvious trail that can be taken and anther reported one that I didn't personally see.
Along the trail are remnants of other buildings...
At the end of the trail you can see a glimpse of your first building...
As you emerge this small building become more prominent.
We did not go in the smaller building you just saw as we didn't feel comfortable going in there due to its size. And this is because we suspected a larger group of people that came in prior to us maybe in that building. I don't know what that group was up to but they scurried in just prior to us with backpacks and hoodies.
Knowing there were other somewhat questionable people around certainly added a weird element to the already somber environment. These individuals had parked their vehicles before we did ours and went into the trail about 10 minutes before we did & their vehicles were gone when we left so they couldn't have been up to much. However, there's definitely tons of graffiti (some "nsfw"...)
Before I get too ahead of myself, let me explain why we had to "sneak" down the trail. The entrance to forest haven is guarded and there's aactually a building for male juvenile detention on that portion of the grounds. Naturally, over time people found other ways to gain access to Forest Haven.
After passing the small building you've seen first, we encountered the next building that I believe to be Curley Hall.
From my understanding this building housed some 200 of the most disabled patients when the other buildings were overcrowded (which unfortunately became the norm.)
The lower levels/ basement are flooded and there's some seriously dingy looking water...
Yes, that pinkish/ red stuff is the actual color of the water...perhaps from the bricks or littered paint cans from graffiti artists.... all the more eery of course those basketballs just hanging out floating on the water, seemingly abandoned mid-game from the nearby court...
At this point you may be wondering, well, what sort of people found their way into forest haven? The "intellectually disabled" both children and adults. I think Foest Haven might've had possibly good intentions to initially. But, over time and with government cuts to funding crucially needed rehabilitative programs, the place became overcrowded and understaffed. Furthermore, the qualified & educated staff left or were snuffed out and unqualified people took their place to include doctors with malpractice suits against them. There are literally a plethora of horror movie inspiring acts that went down at this place. There's also a mass grave on the property with more than 300 buried, in unmarked graves.
Unfortunately, during our visit we had more than just company from the first group I previously described but, also saw an unmarked black SUV stop off at one of the buildings past Curley Hall. Due to these individuals presence we weren't able to explore and see the gravesite or the chapel both of which I really wanted to see.
I have many photos from within curley hall and the adjacent building. I was pretty astonished to see actual patient records and what would now be considered protected health information lying about. You will see some of that in the following photos. Additionally, you'll see that a LOT of stuff still remains in these buildings. Following the judge ordered shutdown of Forest Haven, one would wonder why these documents weren't either destroyed or relocated. Maybe becayse the residents of Forest Haven "didn't matter." Not only were the truly mentally disabled sent there, so were those with mild cases of dyslexia or other functioning but mildly cognitively impaired. The environment caused the mildly impaired to become worse. Eventually drug addicts and other societal rejects ended up stuck at forest haven. This wall "art" well sums up the general heavy emotional feeling in the air at Forest Haven Asylum...
Take a closer look:
"Welcome to hell, thx....." yeah that pretty well sums up the living conditions these residents dealt with. From being chemically and/or physically restrained, these residents took the worst type of abuse. There are reports of "medical testing" and "experimentation" being performed here and I wouldn't be surprised. In the photos to follow I hope to impart this feel to you, as it was heavy!
As you can see, parts of the forest haven facilities are remarkably intact. The stark contrast of the drapes with the decay and peeling paint was interesting to me. Additionally, the in somewhat decent condition typewriter and sofa in contrast to the disarray and patient files scattered throughout. It has been this way since 1991 when the facility finally moved the 15 remaining residents elsewhere, more than a decade following the 1978 court ordered shut down of this place.
As I stated earlier, I'm anti-institutionalization. I think most individuals can be treated, rehabilitated, or placed in a small group home setting of some sort that specializes in said area. Group home is a milder form of institutionalization I'm aware...however, for some individuals such as those with severe antisocial personality disorder or untreatable schizophrenia institutionalization can be a safe alternative for both the individuals' own safety and that of the general public.
Simply sticking ALL societal rejects in one place clearly doesn't work and Forest Haven is a solid example of it. Humans get too carried away with an "easy fix" to problems and that's when we have overcrowded facilities. Then comes the government cutbacks and worse leads to worse.
I'm glad we visited foresthaven. I don't think it'll be around forever and I feel happy I was able to see a piece of history, regardless of what a terrible piece of history it is. I really feel for all the souls who suffered in this place. As a rehabilitative healthcare professional myself, I am enraged to think of the work environment that some of these "professionals" called their workplace & why more wasn't done & sooner to stop this mess.
What do you think? Should all institutionalization be done away with? How should we be treating the severely mentally ill & disabled? Where should they go? Would love to hear your thoughts on this. Thanks for visiting my blog.
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AWESOME post, am bigtime interested in both haunted and abandoned areas for whatever reason. Great photos, it was actually spooky scrolling down and seeing something decaying that was filled with people left there....to decay
b.a.
Thx @battleaxe yep, so am I.
There was something that happened there that I considered to be paranormal of which I will post another time. The place is DEF haunted.
Wow!! This was amazing to read. I mean, I was there with you, but i feel like I gained a new perspective from reading this side of it.
I learned something interesting about the water being that funky pink color. I was talking to a professor at my school who does personal research on micro-organisms. I told him about the strange water color and how i thought it might be due to busted spray paint cans that had been disposed in the water. He told me that maybe that was possible, but not likely because the paint particles would have settled to the bottom of the water after a long period in stagnated water like it was. He said it was far more likely that it was due to micro organisns which colonized in the water. He said that organisms as such can live in a wide variety of habitats (cold, warm, dry, humid..) And that the color they take on is due to environmental factors. Cool, right??? Anyways. I loved this blog, you did a great job! I am also glad to have been able to go on this adventure with you and see history.
Hey my sister, that's certainly quite interesting regarding the color of the water. Certainly never seen water that color before. I'm really glad you went with me as I could've never went alone. It was a great adventure!
What an amazing post! I am almost lost for words when I think of what happened over the years in this establishment. It is like reading a horror story and sadly one which is repeated elsewhere.
In the post communist countries they had their own horror stories and this has been well publicised here in the U.K. and help has been given. Unfortunately there are some institutions still in operation, and by what I've seen still as crowded and lacking in care as previosuly reported.
In the U.K there have been tentative steps to alleviate this problem, the larger institutions were shut down and it emerged later that a lot of abuse went on by people who not only knew better, but were public figures!
the current plan is to house the mentally disabled in smaller homes with caretakers, encouraging those who live there to live normal lives.
Mental illness has so many forms and who can really say what 'normal' is? I hate the idea of institutions and locking people away, but such is the way most societies deal with this. The most severe cases where behaviour is extreme and hard to manage, I can understand need extra care, When I lived in Athens I had a lovely ex sister-in-law who had Schitzophrenia and it was hard to be close to her when she got really bad. Sadly she died at the age of 53. I was lucky enough to never having to witness her extreme days, with me she was a loving and sweet as she always was.
Unless we train more people to tend to those whose abilities are less than our own, then institutions will survive as an expedient way of dealing with it. What we should be doing, is making sure that in schools, colleges and universities, caring for others should be encouraged, rather than the 'hard nosed' attitudes of today. Social Media hasn't helped. There are a lot of caring children and teenagers out there but unless they are exposed to what goes on, and taught how to deal with it, how can they judge?
That's why I'm not on social media except Steemit and that's because it's a community and communities are supposed to share. Well done for this wonderful post, sad for sure, but enlightening. It's especially enlightening to see someone write as you have done. I applaud this.
Thanks for the comment. I've read some stories about UK asylums as well. What really disturbs me is when those could function relatively normally in society (I.e. dyslexic) being sent away and GETTING WORSE. There's just a ton of stories about people who actually got worse in these facilities. Ugh. Just horrible. I agree small group homes with 1:1 caregivers is the best idea
Dear chelsea88 and your sister traveller ohmenlightened, thanks for getting back. My husband (American born and quite the savant) I used to think was dyslexic as he thought so literally. Some time ago he told me he'd watched a documentary on Aspbergers syndrome and he recognised things in himself. It was like a light coming on. Oh, so that's it. That's why he was such a marvellous photographer/printmaker and still does some awsome cooking. Poor dear has so much to put up with health wise that he needs to know that he is understood. It has sometimes been frustrating for us both, but now we are comfortable in the knowledge. It could have been something I couldn't deal with and I've dealt with a lot. It seems strange that someone like me was called upon on three respective occasions to nurse those dear to me from cancer, including my mother. I would never in my earlier years considered myself for that role. It was both a priviledge and a special time, despite losing those lovely people. So there you have it. I am sympathetic to anyone with any mental issues whatever they are. The world is still not up to the task. I try to write when I can where it counts. Carry on caring about old buildings and their history and carry on remembering those less fortunate mentally. ASlso keep thinking happy thoughts!
Right on @jvalentine
I'm sorry for your losses by the way ❤
I'm a big mental health proponent and although many things have improved in this" industry", still many more things that need to be done. Still so much lack of understanding.
Yep, there were probably many aspbergers patients here just because they were a little socially awkward. I had a physics professor in college who had it and was a freaking genius.
How easily things could've turned out negatively for him.
Thank you chelsea88 for your response. We deal with losses but retain the lovely memories, especially the ones where we laughed a lot. Funnily enough although my husband is thought of as slightly eccentric, or opinionated, he is socially adept as most of my family and friends love him! So there you go. Understanding is the key. By the way I was so emersed in the photos I forgot to look at the graphics of any kind. Now looked and through the smut there is some bright sparks. Stay well.
Awesome post chelsea! I'll get back tomorrow with a few thoughts on this:)
Cool thanks be interested to hear from you
Hi, chelsea, my year old injury has been acting up in the last few days and I've had to focus on managing this annoyance.
What I can say is I feel we live in a society that has normalized abandonment. It seems to be peculiar to a certain type of American capitalism although not solely responsible as the USSR had its share of abandoned infrastructure.
But infrastructure isn't the only thing that's been abandoned: we've even lost our empathy, compassion, and wisdom in the vain obsession with profit and celebrity.
Apologies for not being able to explore this more as there is much to be said and considered.
And great pics:)
That place gave me the creeps and i was not even there!
It’s a shame people have damage and destroyed parts of it. Always interesting to see how nature retakes over land that was once belong to it.
It definitely has the "creepy" ambience to it for sure! And yeah people suck sometimes
Sad to see buildings run down like this but then again the way some of this old mental Asylums treated people in ways that are good it closed down
Awesome cool and creepy thanks for taking us along through this post
Yeah it's incredibly wasteful as well that it's just left like this. Thx for reading
Yes it is so cute a waste
Very interesting and sad at the same time. I'm intrigued by places like this on a paranormal and adventurous aspect. Thanks for all the photos as I've never been there but it almost feels like I have now. How sad that people were so mistreated there. Sometimes I just don't get people and some of the things they do.
I'm glad you could aoprecaite this post. It was the most pictures I've ever posted at one time! Yep people really do suck sometimes
In many cultures the ones we call crazy were thought of as holy. Ive been a psychotherapist for 30 years or so. I have little faith in the DSM (whatever the latest version they have voted on) and the medical system, especially that which focuses on mental health. Many of those people were not crazy but were responding to the craziness they encountered in culture. Great post!
Wow I didn't know you were a psycho therapist. You'd have a field day with me (being sarcastic).I was actually about to post about the problems im having with how the mental health community treats my problems
Post it sugar. Im a weird therapist. I think love is what helps. :)
And I am a touch psycho. :)
Good. Then I can be your friend. :)
Thought we were already friends. crosses arms
Yea imma post about it later
I meant friends who know that we are craxy. That's another category. Its better. :)