Lisa G. Nielsen

Tells the story of Dr. Ralph Arrowsmith, a mid-20th century psychiatrist with a life-long connection to Coquitlam's Riverview Hospital [formerly Essendale asylum], a mental institution that opened in 1913 and closed in 2011. Dr. Arrowsmith, who was passionate about the psychiatric movement and deeply committed to his patients, recounts his years of practice with frank discussions of the treatment and perception of the mentally ill at the iconic mental hospital, from the peak of the institutional movement through deinstitutionalization. <p>Consciousness is part three of the Riverview Hospital Story Project.</p>

An interview with nurse Kathleen Clayton Grootendorst, who reflects on her time working at Riverview Hospital in Coquitlam, B.C. Bedlam combines never before seen archival film and photography with present day super 8 footage of the historic Asylum at "Essondale", now known as Riverview Hospital in Coquitlam, B.C. The story of health care worker Kay Clayton unravels to reveal her astonishing personal account of the hospital where she worked during two very different times in mental health history. In 1945, Kay was only 16 years old when she started as a naïve summer relief staff on a large, noisy and crowded women's ward. Kay recounts her experiences on the ward during a time when there was little access to medications to assist in the care of these profoundly ill patients. Kay returned to work in the hospital again in 1973 until her retirement from Asylum care in 1988. The advent of effective psychiatric medications made for considerable advances in patient care with a marked increase in patient liberty. But then, the government introduced the idea of de-institutionalization.

An interview with nurse Norma McMurdo, who reflects on her time working at Riverview Hospital in Coquitlam, B.C. from 1949 to 1951. Includes compassionate memories of lesbian patients who were not mentally ill. Part One of the Riverview Hospital Project.