• HOME
• THE LANGUAGE OF MADNESS
• THE ASYLUM
• • Asylum Design
  • Patient Buildings
• SOCIETY
• • Urban & Rural Life
  • Class & Gender
  • The Hysterical Female
  • The Evils of "Self-Abuse"
  • Family
  • Visitors
• LEGISLATION
• • Legislative Influence
  • Origins of Legislation and the Criminality of Insanity
  • Teenaged Years: Marked Custody Transition
  • Turn of the Century: Voluntary Admissions
  • Updated Act: The Mental Hospital Act
• SUPERINTENDANTS
• STAFF
• • Working at the LAI
  • Hiring Practices
  • Rules for Employees
  • Employee Roles in Moral Therapy
  • Doctors at LAI
  • Doctor Connections to UWO
  • Training School for Nurses
  • Attendants
  • General Staff
• PATIENT PERSPECTIVE
• • Introduction
  • Patient Art
  • Patient Letters
  • Their Voice
• MEDICAL TREATMENTS
• • Medical Treatment Introduction
  • Use of Restraints
  • Drug and Alcohol
  • Hydrotherapy
  • Female Surgeries
  • Neurosyphilis
  • Shock Therapy
  • Lobotomies
• MORAL THERAPY
• • Moral Therapy Introduction
  • Labour
  • Amusements
  • Diet
  • Religion
• THE WORLD WARS
• • Before the First World War
  • During the First World War
  • After the First World War
  • The First World War and the LAI
  • First World War Veterans at the LAI
  • The Second World War
• MEMORIES OF RMHCL
• • Introduction
  • Their Memories

Memories of Regional Mental Health Care, London

In early 2009, the Public History students at the University of Western Ontario began to record the history of previous employees and volunteers of the former Ontario Hospital, London and the London Psychiatric Hospital, known today as Regional Mental Health Care, London (RMHCL). These histories lay the groundwork for what is to be an ongoing project undertaken by RMHCL and housed at the University of Western Ontario Archives, to preserve and promote a rich history of work in the field of mental health care.

The purpose of these interviews was to capture what work and life were like in the field of mental health care during the living history of this vital institution. These stories have been shared to provide insight into a more recent past and offer perspective for current mental health awareness issues. Through these recollections, yet another voice is added to the choir of a very active community.

Many of the people interviewed here have since retired from active service within the mental health field. However, they remain passionate about what they did and conscious of the direction in which the field is moving. Throughout the last sixty years, these people have strived to make the world of mental health one filled with compassion, care, and perhaps most importantly, community. Their memories lay part of the foundation for the continued advancements in the field of mental health care, and as such form a crucial link between the past and the present.