Larundel:  A  New  Age  Facility  for  the  Mentally  Insane    

 Figure  1-­‐  One  of  three  buildings  that  remain  of  the  Larundel  facility  today.  Ebony  Warner  15th  September  2015.      

 Mental  health  is  something  that  should  not  be  over  looked  by  the  Australian  government,  however  there  is  little  that  remains  of  Victoria’s  early  treatment  facilities.  Larundel  Mental  Asylum  was  a  once  flourishing  facility  that  played  an  important  part  in  Victoria’s  development  in  Mental  Health.  Larundel  and  its  joining  partners  Mont  Park  and  the  Plenty  Valley  Repatriation  Psychiatric  Hospital  were  classified  as  ‘new  age’  facilities  for  their  time.    This  was  due  to  their  layouts  and  new  treatments  they  offered.  In  spite  of  this  little  pieces  of  

information  and  stories  have  been  shared  from  past  patients  that  contradict  the  term  ‘new  age’  in  hindsight.  

   History  of  Larundel    Construction  started  in  1938,  but  with  the  outbreak  of  WWII  it  was  put  on  hold.1  During  this  period  the  buildings  that  were  finished  were  used  by  the  U.S  military  as  a  Hospital  or  for  housing  for  a  Children’s  Welfare  Depot.  Even  the  W.A.A.F  used  some  of  the  facility  as  a  training  depot  and  a  Hospital.2  In  1946  it  was  used  by  the  Department  of  Housing  

Emergency  Accommodation  for  families  in  need,  where  the  wards  were  converted  into  flats.  Larundel  started  to  admit  its  first  psychiatric  patients  in  1953,  15  years  after  construction  had  began.3  Larundel  was  built  to  take  the  overflow  of  patients  from  Kew  Mental  Hospital,  as  the  facilities  were  outdated  and  the  local  residents  objected  to  having  a  mental  hospital  near.4  Larundel  dealt  with  patients  that  were  suffering  from  acute  

psychiatric,  psychotic  and  schizophrenic  disorders,  but  did  not  host  the  more  dangerous  patients  as  they  were  sent  to  Mont  Park.    By  the  early  1970’s  a  clinical  laboratory  had  been  added  to  the  facility.5        Was  it  really  a  new  age  facility?    There  is  not  a  lot  of  information  regarding  what  treatments  were  used  that  I  can  get  access  to.  For  its  time,  Larundel  would  have  been  a  new  facility  due  to  its  layout  alone.  In  figure  3,  you  can  just  imagine  the  views  that  the  patients  would  have  had  from  the  windows  in  the  asylum.  The  government  needed  to  find  land  that  was  located  away  from  the  city  and  that  had  a  lot  of  free  space.  Figure  2  shows  just  how  much  land  was  part  of  the  Larundel  Mental  Asylum.  All  of  the  areas  in  green  belonged  to  Larundel.  So  you  can  imagine  that  Larundel  would  have  had  a  relaxed,  open  and  therapeutic  feel  to  the  facility.    

 Figure  2  -­‐Green  shaded  areas  belonged  to  Larundel  Mental  Asylum.  Glimpses  of  the  Past:  Mont  Park,  Larundel  and  Plenty,p6.      However  there  have  been  a  few  comments  on  a  number  of  blog  sites  that  have  stated  that  although  it  was  a  new  facility  they  still  used  drugs  to  sedate  patients.  Also  compared  to  its  

adjoining  partner  Mont  Park,  Larundel  did  not  house  the  most  dangerous  or  serious  cases  that  were  on  the  premises.6  I  have  also  found  on  those  same  blogs  that  some  people  have  stated  that  they  were  sane  before  entering  the  facility  and  not  so  sane  after  leaving  it.7  A  man  that  stated  this  was  an  escapee  from  the  facility,  although  I  am  not  sure  as  to  how  far  I  believe  that.  With  the  installation  of  a  lab  facility,  doctors  began  trailing  new  drugs  to  treat  mental  disorders.  The  use  of  lithium  as  a  treatment  for  schizophrenia  was  discovered  at  Larundel,  which  allowed  patients  suffering  from  it  to  go  home  and  allowed  to  return  to  work.8  It  also  trialed  many  other  types  of  treatments  such  as  a  music  therapy,  medical  and  other  non-­‐medical  treatments.  Although  these  seem  to  classify  the  asylum  as  a  new  age  facility  for  its  time  there  is  so  much  that  happened  behind  closed  doors  that  the  public  will  never  know  about.      

 Figure  3-­‐  View  from  one  of  the  windows  located  in  Larundel.  Ebony  Warner  15th  September  2015.      Stories  from  within    There  are  a  number  of  stories  that  have  been  posted  on  blog  sites  or  in  memoirs  regarding  what  happened  at  Larundel.  A  mixture  of  both  

positive  and  negative  comments  can  be  found.  One  memoir  of  her  father  by  M.J.Hyland  spoke  positively  of  Larundel  and  its  facilities,  stating  ‘  I  liked  Larundel  for  its  friendly  staff,  its  vending  machines,  its  smell  of  disinfectant’.9    Vending  can  be  seen  as  just  one  of  the  ways  the  facility  was  classified  as  a  ‘new  age’  facility.      

 Figure  4-­‐  blog  post  from  Virginia  who  states  that  they  still  drugged  up  patients.  The  Bohemian  Blog  5th  September  2015.    Virginia  states  in  figure  4  that  even  in  the  1970’s  they  still  drugged  patients  up  into  a  zombie  like  state,  as  this  made  it  easier  for  the  nurses  and  doctors  to  handle  them.      

 Figure  5-­‐  Virginia  commenting  on  the  state  of  the  buildings.  The  Bohemian  Blog  5th  September  2015.    Considering  Larundel  was  a  ‘new  age’  facility  you  would  expect  the  buildings  would  be  fitted  with  modern  post  war  equipment.  This  was  not  the  case  as  Virginia  states  that  the  ‘place  was  a  dump,  the  buildings  did  not  have  hot  showers  for  patients  as  the  boilers  were  that  old.  They  did  not  heat  up  properly.’.  This  is  shown  in  figure  5.  You  would  expect  this  in  a  prison  or  something  similar  not  in  a  government  facility  that  was  treating  ill  people.  What  about  the  public?  The  pubic  did  hear  some  negative  stories  and  there  were  even  some  reports  that  were  published  in  newspapers  that  stated  the  conditions  and  treatments  at  mental  asylums  were  from  the  

‘middle  ages’.    Figure  6  is  an  article  that  was  published  in  The  Age  in  1948,  although  it  was  five  years  before  Larundel  was  officially  opened;  similar  conditions  were  applicable  in  the  asylum  as  it  was  built  during  this  time.      

 Figure  6-­‐  Article  from  The  Age,  1948,  stating  the  conditions  on  Mental  Asylums.  Trove  23rd  Oct  2015.    What  remains?    There  have  not  been  many  photographs  taken  inside  of  the  asylum  that  are  available  to  the  public,  so  it  is  very  hard  to  tell  just  how  far  advanced  the  facilities  were.  From  the  remaining  three  buildings  there  is  little  evidence  left  since  its  closure  in  the  late  1990’s,  due  to  vandalism,  natural  decay  and  its  redevelopment  into  a  housing  estate.10  However  there  are  little  fragments  of  this  facility  remaining  that  are  untouched  by  the  elements.  From  the  outside  of  the  building  it  looks  like  a  fancy  version  of  a  prison.      

 Figure  7-­‐  Passage  connecting  buildings.  Ebony  Warner  15th  September  2015.    Most  of  the  buildings  today  look  like  prisons,  with  bars  on  most  windows  or  small  windows  so  that  patients  could  not  escape  through  them.  Figure  7  shows  a  passage  that  is  located  in  between  two  buildings;  it  can  be  clearly  shown  that  barriers  were  put  into  place  to  stop  patients  from  jumping  off  to  their  death  or  escaping  the  facility.  This  may  seem  like  a  practical  idea,  though  it  does  not  seem  to  add  any  comfort  in  knowing  that  is  was  classified  as  a  new  age  facility.      

 Figure  8-­‐  Little  details  on  the  windows  that  remain  of  the  decoration  of  the  building.  Ebony  Warner  15th  September  2015.      The  Victorian  Government  considered  the  asylum  a  ‘new  age’  facility,  this  was  most  likely  due  to  the  reforms  made  such  as  the  new  open  layout  and  little  pieces  of  luxury  included  in  the  buildings  

design.  In  figure  8  you  can  see  what  little  remains  of  the  decorative  windows  that  might  have  been  put  into  place  to  give  that  room  a  more  ‘homely’  feel  to  it  and  give  it  a  less  of  a  prison  feel  to  it.  However  these  little  details  were  probably  in  the  rooms  for  the  staff  or  a  common  area  where  family  came  to  visit.  Appearances  and  putting  on  a  display  for  people  was  enough  for  visitor  or  officials  to  walk  away  and  report  back  to  departments  on  what  a  lovely  facility  it  was  running.    

 

   

Figure  9  &  10  –  Rooms  located  in  the  remaining  buildings  of  Larundel,  which  look  like  they  belong  in  a  prison.  Ebony  Warner  15th  September  2015.  Darmon  Ritcher,  ‘Watch  room’,  Jan  28th  2013.      From  just  looking  at  two  rooms,  Figure  9  looks  like  it  should  be  an  interrogation  room  as  there  was  probably  a  one-­‐way  mirror.  Figure  10,  looks  like  it  was  a  room  where  the  staff  could  surprise  the  patients  or  a  control  room.  Both  of  these  rooms  show  that  Larundel  was  not  a  ‘new  age’  facility  and  that  the  government  was  all  talk  in  regards  to  what  Larundel  was  publicised  as.  I  could  not  tell  what  was  in  the  room  as  it  was  burnt  and  anything  of  value  would  have  been  long  gone  from  the  premises  taken  by  vandals.        

 Changes  in  1975-­‐1995  to  the  governing  Mental  Health  Policy    During  1975  to  1995,  there  was  a  shift  in  the  psychiatry  community  to  move  towards  the  modern  era.  The  government  decided  to  move  away  from  institutional  care  of  psychiatric  patients  to  a  community  based  care  program.11  Too  many  patients  became  reliant  on  hospital  care  to  be  able  to  move  out  into  the  community  by  themselves.    Psychosocial  philosophy  was  the  new  term  given  to  describe  the  process  of  trying  to  assimilate  patients  into  the  community.  12  There  were  two  objectives  to  this  movement.  The  first  objective  was  to  ensure  that  the  treatment  of  mental  illness  moved  towards  a  community  based  system  instead  of  an  institutionalized-­‐based  one.  The  second  was  to  make  the  community  a  place  where  psychiatric  concepts  were  understood  and  were  integrated  into  the  social  side  of  everyday  life.13  During  the  1960’s  there  was  a  lot  of  research  in  pharmaceutical  treatments  for  mental  illness.  This  allowed  many  patients  to  leave  the  hospitals  and  institution  and  live  a  normal  life  with  the  help  of  self-­‐medication.14  In  the  late  1980’s  there  was  more  development  of  community  organizations  defining  how  people  with  mental  illnesses  should  be  treated.15  By  1992,  states,  territories  and  the  government  decided  that  having  one  coordinated  approach  to  mental  health  illnesses  was  needed.  All  parties  agreed  on  the  National  Mental  Health  Policy,  which  urged  all  states  to  follow  one  consistent  approach  to  the  treatment  of  mental  illnesses.16  This  began  with  the  closures  of  many  of  the  mental  asylums  and  institutions  

across  Australia.    Larundel  like  many  other  institutions  was  closed  down  in  1999,  due  to  the  new  trend  in  pharmaceutical  treatments  rather  than  traditional  methods  of  treatments  for  mental  health.17    The  remaining  patients  at  Larundel  were  moved  to  the  Austin  Hospital,  as  the  Victorian  government  moved  towards  the  new  era  in  Mental  Health  care.18        

 Figure  11-­‐  Bathroom  in  Larundel  displaying  a  message.  Darmon  Ritcher,  ‘Watch  room’,  Jan  28th  2013.    There  is  not  a  lot  of  information  provided  by  the  government  that  is  available  to  the  public  on  Larundel  Mental  Asylum  in  general  and  let  alone  what  took  place  there.  Little  is  known  in  regards  to  treatments  that  were  used  or  it’s  facilities  that  were  used.  Which  just  goes  to  show  that  there  are  a  lot  of  details  missing  from  this  period  in  Australia’s  Mental  Health  dark  days.    There  are  many  stories  from  ex-­‐patients  and  of  relatives  of  ex-­‐patients  but  these  are  not  recorded  down  for  future  generations  to  read  or  for  any  more  information  to  be  put  into  the  public.  This  is  understandable  considering  

during  the  time  it  was  open  mental  health  was  frowned  upon.  Society  in  that  time  was  not  as  accepting  as  what  it  is  today.  One  of  my  friend’s  grandfathers  attended  Larundel  but  it  is  not  to  be  spoken  about  at  all  not  even  in  the  family.  Today  we  should  be  thankful  that  places  like  Larundel  and  Mont  Park  do  not  exists  anymore,  and  that  attitudes  have  changed  towards  people  who  are  suffering  form  mental  illnesses.  Figure  11  displays  a  message  that  I  believe  describes  perfectly  what  

occurred  during  Larundel’s  period  of  operation.  Larundel  and  many  other  places  like  it  have  played  such  an  important  part  in  developing  attitudes  and  definitions  of  mental  health  in  Victoria.  It  is  a  shame  to  see  that  real  estate  taking  over  every  aspect  of  what  was  once  a  thriving,  break  through  institution  in  the  Victorian  mental  health  service.    Even  though  it  was  considered  to  be  a  new  age  facility  of  its  time,  I  guess  that  some  treatments  and  attitudes  will  never  change  in  the  world.  

         Endnotes                                                                                                                  1  ‘Larundel  Mental  Asylum’,  Darebin  Heritage  [webpage],  (January  5th  2014)  http://heritage.darebinlibraries.vic.gov.au/article/328,  accessed  4th  September  2015.  2  Bircanin  Ilya  and  Short  Alex,  Glimpses  of  the  Past:  Mont  Park,  Larundel  and  Plenty(  Melbourne:  National  Library  of  Australia,1995)  41,42.  3  Ibid.  4  ‘Larundel  Mental  Asylum’,  Darebin  Heritage  [webpage],  (January  5th  2014)  http://heritage.darebinlibraries.vic.gov.au/article/328,  accessed  4th  September  2015.  5  Ibid.  6  Ibid.  7  Escapee  ‘comments’,  The  Bohemian  Blog  [website],  (12th  April  2013),<  http://www.thebohemianblog.com/2013/02/urban-­‐exploration-­‐larundel-­‐asylum.html>,  accessed  5th  September  2015.  8  Robson  Belinda,  ‘From  Mental  Hygiene  to  Community  Mental  Health’,  The  Journal  of  Public  Record  Office  Victoria,  7,  (2008),  7.  9  Hyland  MJ,  ‘Memoir  Elegy’,  Meanjin,  vol  63/4(2004),78.  10  Bircanin  Ilya  and  Short  Alex,  Glimpses  of  the  Past:  Mont  Park,  Larundel  and  Plenty(  Melbourne:  National  Library  of  Australia,1995)  52.  11  ‘Larundel  Mental  Asylum’,  Darebin  Heritage  [webpage],  (January  5th  2014)  http://heritage.darebinlibraries.vic.gov.au/article/328,  accessed  4th  September  2015.  12  Robson  Belinda,  ‘From  Mental  Hygiene  to  Community  Mental  Health’,  The  Journal  of  Public  Record  Office  Victoria,  7,  (2008),7.  13  Ibid  11.  14  Larundel  Mental  Asylum’,  Darebin  Heritage  [webpage],  (January  5th  2014)  http://heritage.darebinlibraries.vic.gov.au/article/328,  accessed  4th  September  2015.  15  Robson  Belinda,  ‘From  Mental  Hygiene  to  Community  Mental  Health’,  The  Journal  of  Public  Record  Office  Victoria,  7,  (2008),11.  16  Ibid.  17  Ibid.  18  Larundel  Mental  Asylum’,  Darebin  Heritage  [webpage],  (January  5th  2014)  http://heritage.darebinlibraries.vic.gov.au/article/328,  accessed  4th  September  2015.    Illustrations  

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             Figure  1-­‐  One  of  the  three  remaining  buildings  of  Larundel.  Photograph,  Ebony  Warner,  15th  September  2015,  private  collection.      Figure  2-­‐  Green  shaded  areas  belong  to  Larundel.  (1995)  Bircanin  Ilya  and  Short  Alex,  Glimpses  of  the  Past:  Mont  Park,  Larundel  and  Plenty,  National  Library  of  Australia,  Melbourne,  p6.    Figure  3-­‐  View  from  one  of  the  windows  located  in  Larundel.  Photograph,  Ebony  Warner,  15th  September  2015,  private  collection.    Figure  4-­‐Blog  post  from  Virginia  who  states  that  they  still  drugged  up  patients.  Virginia  ‘comments’,  The  Bohemian  Blog  [website],  (8th  Aug.  2015)  <  http://www.thebohemianblog.com/2013/02/urban-­‐exploration-­‐larundel-­‐asylum.html>,  accessed  5th  September  2015.    Figure  5-­‐  Virginia  commenting  on  the  state  of  the  buildings.  Virginia  ‘comments’,  The  Bohemian  Blog  [website],  (8th  Aug.  2015)  <  http://www.thebohemianblog.com/2013/02/urban-­‐exploration-­‐larundel-­‐asylum.html>,  accessed  5th  September  2015.    Figure  6-­‐  Article  from  The  Age,  1948,  stating  the  conditions  on  Mental  Asylums.  ‘Conditions  in  Mental  Homes’,  The  Age,  3,  29th  Oct.  1948,3,  in  trove  [online  database],  accessed  22nd  Oct.  2015.    Figure  7-­‐  Passage  connecting  buildings.  Photograph,  Ebony  Warner,15th  September  2015,  private  collection.    Figure  8-­‐  Little  details  on  the  windows  that  remain  of  the  decoration  of  the  building.  Photograph,  Ebony  Warner,  15th  September  2015,  private  collection.    Figure  9  -­‐  Rooms  located  in  the  remaining  buildings  of  Larundel,  which  look  like  they  belong  in  a  prison.  Photograph,  Ebony  Warner,  15th  September  2015,  private  collection.    Figure  10-­‐  Rooms  located  in  the  remaining  buildings  of  Larundel,  which  look  like  they  belong  in  a  prison.  Darmon  Ritcher,  ‘Watch  room’[image]  (  Jan  28th  2013)  <  http://www.thebohemianblog.com/2013/02/urban-­‐exploration-­‐larundel-­‐asylum.html>,accessed  5th  September  2015.    Figure  11-­‐  Bathroom  in  Larundel  displaying  a  message.  Darmon  Ritcher,  ‘Horror’[image]  (  Jan  28th  2013)  <  http://www.thebohemianblog.com/2013/02/urban-­‐exploration-­‐larundel-­‐asylum.html>,  accessed  5th  September  2015.    *Permission  granted  to  use  Darmon’s  Photos  for  my  essay:  I  hereby  give  Ebony  Warner  full  permission  to  use  my  images  of  Larundel  Asylum  in  a  free  and  academic  context.  Best,  Darmon      Bibliography    Primary    

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             ‘Conditions  in  Mental  Homes’,  ‘The  Age’,  3,  29th  Oct  1948,3,  in  Trove,  [online  database],  accessed  22nd  Oct.  2015.    Photo    Secondary  Bircanin  Ilya  and  Short  Alex,  Glimpses  of  the  Past:  Mont  Park,  Larundel  and  Plenty(  Melbourne:  National  Library  of  Australia,1995).    Escapee  ‘comments’,  The  Bohemian  Blog  [website],  (12th  April  2013),<  http://www.thebohemianblog.com/2013/02/urban-­‐exploration-­‐larundel-­‐asylum.html>,  accessed  5th  September  2015.    ‘Larundel  Mental  Asylum’,  Darebin  Heritage  [webpage],  (January  5th  2014)  http://heritage.darebinlibraries.vic.gov.au/article/328,  accessed  4th  September  2015.    Hyland  MJ,  ‘Memoir  Elegy’,  Meanjin,  vol  63/4(2004),78.    Darmon  Ritcher,  ‘Watch  room’[image]  (  Jan  28th  2013)  <  http://www.thebohemianblog.com/2013/02/urban-­‐exploration-­‐larundel-­‐asylum.html>,accessed  5th  September  2015.    Darmon  Ritcher,  ‘Watch  room’[image]  (  Jan  28th  2013)  <  http://www.thebohemianblog.com/2013/02/urban-­‐exploration-­‐larundel-­‐asylum.html>,accessed  5th  September  2015.    Photographs,  Ebony  Warner,  15th  September  2015,  private  collection.    Robson  Belinda,  ‘From  Mental  Hygiene  to  Community  Mental  Health’,  The  Journal  of  Public  Record  Office  Victoria,  7,  (2008),  2,7,11.    Virginia  ‘comments’,  The  Bohemian  Blog  [website],  (31st  Aug.  2013),<  http://www.thebohemianblog.com/2013/02/urban-­‐exploration-­‐larundel-­‐asylum.html>,  accessed  5th  September  2015.