And these mental institutions are often overcrowded, especially in the United States, and Ridges is no exception. Horror movies often show these buildings as haunted, these mechanical structures with spiders in the corners and ghosts lurking around every corner. The minds of the institutions left behind are even worse than those of the rumours. Unfortunately for the teams, not only is this former mental training no longer used, but it is also plagued by rumors of lies and deviants.
When the Athens Medical Center first opened in 1874, the Lunatic Asylum was known in Athens, and specialized in the treatment of mental and criminal insanity. It took a long time to build teams, and things were done. Athenians aspired to a mental country in luxury buildings similar to those in other cities across the Midwest. It took over six years to build the hospital and only after the government of Ohio worked with the US government, enough money was obtained to obtain 1,000 acres from the Coates, a prominent Athens family.
Many patients of those origins were forcibly admitted either by the judges or in some cases by their own families. There have also been cases in which mental institutions paid an amount of money for each patient admitted late. Ridge was one of the most popular mental institutions in Ohio, and typically did not need to bring in patients for other resources.
Despite the large number of disturbed people residing within the Ridges, he constantly maintained a calm, relaxed atmosphere. The hospital also offered fountains and beautifully designed gardens for patients to enjoy. The area was so beautiful that locals often used the area for picnics. Patients are encouraged to walk the grounds safely and take care of the classes outside the gates to lead a life. In order to keep the patients from the criminally insane, the patients were separated in their diagnosis. Dangerous patients were kept at a safe distance from the uninjured, with nurses and doctors placed in the middle.
Gradually, the teams changed from being comfortable with a home like atmosphere, to training boats used for the terrible treatment of patients. Electroshock therapy, ice water baths, and lobotomies were coming into vogue throughout the country, and doctors in Athens began to use them as well. The attitude of the patient also began to change, as more and more families began to admit relatives. Children turned their elderly parents to the hills, and their rebellious parents also sent teenagers. A teenager who showed some signs of a personality change could willingly be admitted to a hospital.
It didn’t help that the team’s environment was undergoing a massive change. Ohio University bought part of the hospital’s land to build its Convocation Center in 1960, followed by the expansion of State Route 682. That destroyed the reservoir on the site, and four of the carefully designed lakes. Ridges finally closed in 1993 due to budget cuts. It was later purchased by Ohio University, which still owns it today.
Cruel and unusual treatment by doctors and other hospital workers is not only a strange thing to happen in the flower of The Yugis. On December 1, 1978, a patient at The Ridges mysteriously disappeared. Margaret Schilling was an ordinary patient who was simply wandering that day. There was a rumor from some that the woman was playing hide and seek when one of the nurses was distracted and forgot to look for her. Hospital workers immediately closed the building and began a massive search of the hospital, but could not find her. More than a month later, on January 12, 1979, his body was found.
A maintenance worker was lost on the 4th floor of the ward, the operation in question to protect his body found. No one is quite sure how long she stayed there, but it must have been horrible. In the middle of the winter in Ohio, the conditions are usually not the best, and she is left alone with no food or water, in an unburnt area and only her regular clothing for protection.
The strangest thing about Margaret Schilling’s disappearance was the body footprint left on the ground. He left Schilling’s body outlined on the ground, with the imprint of his clothes and hair perfectly visible. Experts explain that, as the body was dissolved, the light entering through one of the windows carried the sun to form the form. It does not matter why the spot still appears, or why it comes back even after it has been cleaned. Margaret is one of the many former ghost patients who are rumored to still haunt The Ridges.
Perhaps the strangest moment in The Ridge’s history was when Billy Milligan was arrested in 1977. Milligan was arrested on charges of kidnapping and abducting three women. Ohio State University students. Milligan claimed that he had no memory of the events as he suffered from multiple-personality-disorder”>disordered and became the first person to .in the story, the prosecutors agreed to the deal, and sentenced the kidnapper to a time. >selling book about his condition called The Mind of Billy Milligan.
The Ridges/Athens Medical Center had a cemetery where the dead were buried, and it was reported to be the most crowded. Many of those buried within the cemetery were patients admitted to the court system. Either no one came forward to pay the funeral expenses, or there were no remaining families. Each patient was given a number, and in a simple grave with a number only to mark the last seat. The capitals run in linear shapes except for one small section where round stones are placed. Some say that the witches met in this sacred chamber. It is probably more true to say that the Vandals moved the stones.
The range may not be obeyed, but it has a fascinating history. Ohio University currently owns the building and offers tours of the building. An easy price to look at.
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athens_Lunatic_Asylum
http://www.forgottenoh.com/Ridges/ridges.html
http://www.medhunters.com/articles/hauntedHospitalsTwo.html
