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All Canada Saskatchewan Weyburn Weyburn Mental Hospital
Weyburn Mental Hospital is permanently closed.

This entry remains in the Atlas as a record of its history, but it is no longer accessible to visitors.

Weyburn Mental Hospital

This notorious Canadian mental institution was home to some of the first LSD experiments and origin of the word "psychedelic."

Weyburn, Saskatchewan

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  BriYYZ/CC BY-SA 2.0
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Only one corner of the massive, four winged structure.  
Boarded windows and a silent facade.  
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About

The Weyburn Mental Hospital opened in 1921 and quickly became one of Canada's most notorious psychiatric institutions. It was the site of lobotomies, electric shock therapy, and some of Canada's controversial LSD experiments. It was here that Dr. Humphrey Osmond coined the word "psychedelic" and was among the first to administer LSD in psychiatric experiments.

Between 1953 to 1960, thousands of alcoholics were dosed with LSD under controlled conditions. Curiously it wasn't a complete failure, and half of the dosed alcoholics remained sober over a year later. The experiments at Weyburn also piqued the interest of the CIA, who hoped to use LSD as a truth serum. This would eventually lead to the CIA's infamous MK-Ultra program, which attempted mind-control and chemical interrogation partially through the use of LSD.

Insulin therapy was another common treatment at the time. Doctors incorrectly believed that large doses of the hormone could "reboot" patients. There was also water therapy, where patients had to soak in a cold bath for shock or a warm bath to calm down, and electric shock therapy.

In 1971, the Weyburn Mental Hospital closed its doors and patients were transferred to other institutions. The hospital was officially closed in 2004, and the building demolished in 2009.

Related Tags

Abandoned Abandoned Hospitals Insane Asylums Abandoned Insane Asylums Ruins

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Weyburn, SK.

Community Contributors

Edited By

Molly McBride Jacobson, mbison, michellecassidy1

  • Molly McBride Jacobson
  • mbison
  • michellecassidy1

Published

July 12, 2010

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Sources
  • http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weyburn
  • http://www.saskurbex.prairiepast.com/main/weyburn/weyburn.htm
  • http://flushrush.com/midcentury-lsd-experiments-at-canadian-mental-hospital/
  • https://www.vice.com/en/article/wd7mq4/what-it-was-like-being-a-test-subject-in-saskatchewans-lsd-experiments
  • http://eugenicsarchive.ca/discover/institutions/map/519b32ec4d7d6e000000000b#!
Weyburn Mental Hospital
Weyburn, Saskatchewan, S4H 0P5
Canada
49.668285, -103.858244
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