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New Brunswick was the first place in
British North America to have a mental institute. Before it opened up the
duties of taking care of insane citizens were placed on their family members.
Each country dealt with the extreme and obviously ill ones under the Poor Laws
system, so many were sent to jails or poorhouses with the other outcasts of
society. Sometimes they were chained up in dark and dismal surroundings where
they were able to catch diseases of all kinds.
During the rapid increase in the population in the early 1800's, a facility was requested to house the insane. Thus New Brunswick established Canada's first Provincial Lunatic Asylum. A wooden building at the corner of Wentworth and Leinster streets was built in 1835.
The ground was broken on the 50-acre site near the Reversing Falls in 1846. By December 12 of 1848, the building was so far advanced that the 90 patients at the temporary asylum were moved to the new one.
During the 1880's the first of five additions to the main building were made because of the ever growing population. The building contained 15 wards, where men and women were separated and non-paying and paying patients were separated.
Residents were made to work in the laundry, clean the building and work on the farm, which provided them with most of their food.
The food consisted of bread and tea for breakfast. Noontime meals consisted from rice and molasses to beef soup and beans and the patients received pudding and molasses for supper.
The treatment of the mental health disorders were quite different than they are today. Many of the mental health disorders were known as "overstudy," "diseased brain," "disappointed affection," "sudden freight," "alcoholism," and "poverty and hardship."
When the institution was 50 years old, there was no reading room, no gym, the wards were poorly lit, and the restraints, isolation and hot and cold hydrotherapy were used as treatment. There were no nurses as the patients were cared for by attendants.
During the 1900's many complaints were made about the deplorable conditions and how crowded the wards were with beds. In 1985, many changes were made concerning the mentally ill in the psychiatric units of the general hospitals. A few years later, the New Brunswick Mental Health Commission was set up, which establishes after-care clinics throughout the province.
Special care housing facilities were set up for former patients and non-profit agencies building and administering housing such as "New Directions".
Through these changes, the patient population had declined dramatically. The place was so big it was considered an architectural monster.
In 1996, there were 125 patients in Centracare. They were divided into three groups: those who were mentally handicapped and mentally ill; those who were chronic, the serious psychiatric difficulties; and those in rehabilitation, who were being taught life skills, which aimed them towards a life in the community. By this time Centracare contained craft rooms, recreation areas equipped with musical instruments, record players, Televisions and video machines. For every patient there is an attendant. In all, there were more that 200 staff, which included security, social work and maintenance personnel. There was also a library, an auditorium and a woodworking shop.
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Brunswick Community College - Saint John.