The sensational new book from P and B Publishing

 ASYLUM BOUND

 Stuart Townsend

 “God! Has it come to this?”

Meet the Hogarthian characters of St.Paul’s Mental Hospital: Grace, white-haired, with dementia, on her first day in this terrible place which has always haunted her dreams; Percy, the crystal radio buff, with severe depression; Harry, so damaged by his time in a Japanese POW camp; Walter and his wayward girl-friend Minnie; Tom, whose delusions involve coded messages via the BBC News; Betty, who won’t quite fit in her coffin, needing a bit of encouragement; and many others

Also meet Stuart, the novice student nurse, having to shave a corpse on his very first day and working fearfully on nights, struggling desperately for breath as a patient’s powerful hands grip his throat.

 How did a naïve novice cope with the alien world of the mental asylum in the 1970s?

Asylum Bound is a wild weird walk through his experiences in a bizarre world of terrible extremes. 
In this world there are no shades of grey, just extremes of aggression, sadness and institutionalisation - of both patients and staff. In this strange world Stuart discovers the origins of psychiatry and its terrible treatments - lobotomy, E.C.T., insulin shock and even aversion therapy for underwear snatchers!

Yet he also discovers a rich vein of humour and humanity.

But the asylum system is dying on its feet. The patients are leaving, care is slowly moving into the community - and, thank God, the obvious abuses are on the decline. It is such a different world from anything he has experienced - a brave new world and a life-changing revelation.

 
For Stuart, what started as novelty, progressed to fascination but ended in tragedy.

 Sadly, Asylum Bound is all true.

Asylum Bound by Stuart Townsend

Now available in paperback and kindle versions from Amazon, Strays of Newark, The Bookcase at Lowdham, selected bookshops or visit the website: www.asylumboundthebook.com

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