Psychology Club Students, Faculty Experience Former Medfield Insane Asylum Up Close
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Psychology Professor, Dr. Elizabeth Carey recently led some 50 Psychology Club students on a visit to the Medfield State Hospital, originally the Medfield Insane Asylum. The hospital was the state’s first facility for chronic mentally ill patients. In many ways the facility's history mirrors the history of the care for the mentally ill in the U.S.
There are over 44 buildings on campus and they housed over 2,200 patients. For a time, inmate death rate averaged four per week. It is now a Nationally Registered Historic Place. Students were allowed to enter several buildings to see the conditions and learn about the patients who resided there. Several movies have been filmed at the spine-chilling location such as Shutter Island, The Box, and The New Mutants.