River of Silence

After Anastasia left her job to care for her newly adopted baby, she became severely depressed and began hearing voices. She withdrew from her husband, family, and friends. The answer to her dilemma, in the 1950s, was to send her away for “help” in an asylum. Her family hoped for a cure but instead a horror story unfolds behind the walls of Salinger-Whiteside. Shock treatments and talk of a lobotomy loomed as her reality. The story of Anastasia, sadly immersed in a river of silence, is told through family, work friends, other patients, and asylum staff. What unfolds is the reality of mental health care for women 70 years ago and little removed from our experiences today. Consider if your sanity came under question and decisions made for you became a true existential threat to your life. Read more