This episode was suggested by a listener, my brother-in-law, James. Asylums have been requested by more

people than I can remember, so I hope this snippet about Asylums in Australia will hold you until I do an

episode on Asylums in general. I also forgot to mention that the last episode on Teratomas was also

suggested by Elliot on Instagram.

Thanks, Elliot. If you'd like to make a suggestion, you can do so on Facebook and

Instagram at Morbid Curiosity Podcast, on Twitter, at MorbidPodcast, and on our website,

www.morbidcur curiositypodcast.com.

This episode contains discussions of early methods thought to treat people suffering

from mental illness and intellectually disabled people. Many of these methods are modernly

considered cruel and may be difficult to hear about. The topics of institutionalization and suicide

are also discussed after the ad break. If this isn't something you want to hear about, this may be a good

episode to skip. Also, the themes touched upon in this episode are complex. Elements that might not have been contentious then

are now. Therefore, discussing them and forming conclusions involves a level of objectivity,

which can be hard to achieve from a modern perspective. Please keep these difficulties in mind.

And now on with the episode.

Thank you. difficulties in mind. And now on with the episode. Humans are fascinated by gore and violence, but even more so the mysterious and unsolved.

Interest in these disturbing and unpleasant subjects is called morbid curiosity,

and it has gripped hundreds of people throughout the ages.

I am one of those people.

My name is Halley, and this is the Morbid Curiosity Podcast.

...and this is the Morbid Curiosity Podcast. When we hear the phrase mental institution, the images that come to most of our minds are widely fed by television and movies.

There are two main versions that are used in the popular media.

...