![Out of the Madhouse: From Asylum to Mental Health Reforms - Who Cares? [New Edition] by Sandy Jeffs and Margaret Leggatt](https://www.historyvictoria.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/OUT-OF-THE-MADHOUSE.jpg)
Description
2020 Victorian Community History Award Winner
Larundel Psychiatric Hospital was ‘the madhouse on the edge of town’ – until the 1990s, a Melbourne cultural icon shrouded in mystery in the outer suburb of Bundoora.
What was it really like inside this madhouse?
This story takes us into the heart of Larundel through the voices of former inmates and staff, exposing the best and worst aspects of the mental institutions of the times. It shows the shifts in psychiatric treatments, the social forces at play, and changes driving mental health policy. It explores what de-institutionalisation and ‘care in the community’ actually meant for those suffering mental illness, as well as for those treating, and caring for them.
What did we lose with Larundel’s closure in 1999 and the move to acute psychiatric wards in general hospitals? The notion of asylum? Is the more recent notion of ‘recovery’ a hopeful signpost towards a brave new world for mental health?
The authors are Sandy Jeffs, a former inmate of Larundel, who became an advocate for her ‘mad’ comrades and is now a poet of distinction; and Margaret Leggatt, sociologist, occupational therapist and activist for the friends and families of mentally ill people.
‘A significant and lively contribution to the history of mental health services in Australia, offering vital insights for the progress we must work for.’ – Jack Heath, CEO, SANE Australia
Specifications:
Publisher: Arcadia / Australian Scholarly Publishing
Year: 2025
Format: Paperback
Pages: 288pp
ISBN: 9781925984262
![Rx Medical Philanthropy p.r.n. [as the need arises]: The Victorian Medical Benevolent Association 1865-2012 by Emma Russell and Vicky Ryan](https://www.historyvictoria.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Victorian-Medical-Benevolent-Society-300x221.jpg)
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