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The Mental Hospital Meme
For some reason or other, your character has found themselves in a mental hospital. Maybe it’s a nice, clean, modern facility; maybe it’s a veritable house of horrors.
Why are they here?
For some reason or other, your character has found themselves in a mental hospital. Maybe it’s a nice, clean, modern facility; maybe it’s a veritable house of horrors.
Why are they here?
- Voluntary admission: Perhaps their anxiety has become too much or their mood swings have become too disruptive. Perhaps they’re tired of seeing or hearing things that aren’t there. Whatever the case, they’ve checked themselves in for treatment.
- Involuntary admission: Someone else has placed them here—their parents, their lover, maybe even their child. A court may have ordered them to undergo treatment. Are they angry about it, resigned to it or secretly a little grateful? Are they actually ill or simply misunderstood? Or does someone have a sinister reason to want them locked up?
- Staff: They work here. Maybe they’re a psychiatrist, psychologist or some other professional administering therapy. Maybe they’re a nurse, orderly, or someone else involved in the day-to-day affairs of care. Are they invested in their job or shirking their responsibilities? Do they want to help or do they have darker motives?
- Visitor: They’ve found themselves here for some other reason. They could be a reporter investigating the place, a cop or lawyer wanting to talk to a patient, or a family member wanting to see how their relative is doing. Are they determined to be here or just fulfilling an obligation? Will they be received kindly, or are they walking in to more than they bargained for?
- Therapy: Your character could be lying down and talking about their childhood, but that’s not the only option. The doctors here could be treating phobias through desensitization or trying to stamp out alcohol addiction with aversion therapy. Maybe they favor drugs and shock over anything else. Then there’s the possibility that they’re into particularly experimental techniques…
- Earning your keep: Many mental hospitals were built to be self-sustaining and prior to the 1960s, it wasn’t unusual for patients to be put to work. Making clothes, cleaning rooms or helping out on the grounds might be a welcome break from the monotony, or it might be the last thing your character wants to be doing.
- Visiting hours: They could be eager to hear news from their boyfriend or nervous about chatting with a violent patient. Maybe they want to get this over with, or maybe they’re making the most of it.
- Free time: Your character has some time to themselves. How do they spend it? Watching TV in the dayroom? Checking out the hospital library? Catching up on patient records? Trading gossip?
- Exploring: In a place like this, there’s a lot to see. But is your character really supposed to be wandering around in those tunnels and outbuildings? What happens if they get caught?
- Escape: Your character’s making a break for it or chasing down someone that is. Are they successful? What’s the punishment for such a transgression?
- Something else: Supply one of your own ideas!
Comment with your character and any preferences you might have, and go to it!
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