THE TRUE MADHOUSE DAYS Having lived through the true Madhouse days, I can tell you an amzing story not recorded elsewhere. It is about the snake-pit era of the 1950s when our state hospitals like Manteno were reaching their peak populations. At the time our society swept the mentally ill into institutions thought of as benign and benevolent. But in fact they were not so kind and benevolent. Very few people knew about it at the time. But I knew, because I was there. As an idealistic medical student, intent on helping patients with serious mental illness, I went to live at Manteno for three life altering months. Here is what happened...