Insane Asylum of Phoenix – Arizona – Kailyn Hill

Insane Asylum of Phoenix – Arizona

The construction of the Insane Asylum of Phoenix began in 1886. This massive building was large enough to take in 280 patients and took eight months to complete. The facility was officially opened in 1887.  This building consisted of “three buildings with 2 patient wings and a central administrative facility”, the building followed the Kirkbride design in this way (Asylum Projects). The facility also followed Kirkbride’s design as it was set on 160 acres of land allowing for patients to involve themselves in the gardens and farming.

The Insane Asylum of Phoenix was initially built in recognition that “mental illness is a state responsibility” (Asylum Projects). A board of control, replacing the insane asylum board, was established to create more strict guidelines to be followed regarding “declarations of insanity, patient confinement, and terms of release” (Asylum Projects). Individuals were committed for a range of reasons, due to a lack of institutions in the area. These reasons were occurrences such as, “old age, tuberculosis, and ‘feeblemindedness’” (Asylum Projects). Upon research, there is no personal accounts of the experiences had by patients of the hospital.

Starting with the name Insane Asylum of Phoenix, in 1902 the name was changed to “Territorial Asylum for the Insane” and then changed again in 1924 to “Arizona State Hospital” (Asylum Projects). Just as the name changed over time, so did the number of patients admit to the hospital. The asylum started at 61 patients at the opening in 1887 and by the early 1950’s there was close to 1,800 patients in the hospital (Asylum Projects). As there was a better understanding of human rights and mental illness, the hospital grew with these changes. There was stricter requirement in receiving an “insane” diagnosis and well as a restriction that “made it impossible to get in and easy to be released” (Asylum Projects). In 1973, the current governor and the legislature developed the Arizona Department of Health Services to oversee the mental health services for this facility.

Although it is not clear how many staff members worked in this facility or how many patients walked the halls, part of the 160 acres dedicated to this facility was a graveyard dedicated to staff and patients. Currently, there are 2400 graves dating back to 1888 (Asylum Projects). The records that are available for this facility outline a higher patient to staff ratio, and also touches on understaffing which is a common theme to the mental health world that we all know.

There are very little records of the specific conditions of the asylum, so to the best of my knowledge bad conditions were never exposed to the public. As this asylum seems to follow Kirkbride’s design, I would feel comfortable being treated in this facility. From the available information it seems as though individuals were treated fairly and like human beings in this facility.

http://asylumprojects.org/index.php/Arizona_State_Hospital

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