In a daring move, I ventured into the eerie corridors of Aradale Lunatic Asylum without official permission.
Unlike the popular trend of “24 hours in a mental asylum” vlogs, my escapade predates the era of high-tech documentation, with only an outdated flip phone and a MySpace account to capture the experience.
Alas, the lack of tangible proof leaves this haunting exploration in the realm of personal memory.
For more than a century, Aradale Lunatic Asylum served as a refuge for the mentally ill. Now condemned and crumbling, the once imposing structures bear witness to over 125 years of history.
From Past Adventures to Present Warnings
Embarking on the journey we undertook is not something I would advise anyone to attempt.
There’s a reason these buildings are condemned and closed off to the public. Venturing into certain buildings revealed the presence of lead contamination, emphasizing the perilous nature of exploring restricted areas.
Different rooms. Different colours.
Each room held its own unique palette, a vivid spectrum splashed across decaying walls, with peeling paint drifting to the floor like forgotten confetti.
From pale pink to off-white and subtle shades of green, reminiscent of your Nanna’s bathroom décor, the colors adorned the space. In the midst of this chromatic disarray, my partner suggested that certain hues were likely chosen for their calming effects on individuals.
Considering the possibility of a more systematic approach, I pondered whether the distinct colors might have been a deliberate method to color-code various wards, each shade indicating the severity of the patients within.
In certain chambers, the echoes of the past lingered as beds, medical trays, and equipment stood frozen in time, abandoned and forgotten.
Even though the Asylum ceased operations in 1998, the remnants left behind offered a poignant glimpse into its bygone era. The residual artifacts allowed one to conjure a vivid sense of the facility’s history and the activities that once filled these rooms.
Beyond Sight: A Haunting Encounter
As I cautiously entered an upstairs room on the verge of collapse, it wasn’t just the visual spectacle that struck me; rather, it was an intense wave of sadness that enveloped me.
In that precarious space, a profound sense of darkness and despair washed over me, as if the very walls were echoing the sorrow of the past.
Despite perusing numerous sites showcasing images of Aradale Asylum, none managed to capture the raw emotion and haunting atmosphere of what we witnessed on that day.
It’s not quite the same, but there are some photos from the ghost tour, with equipment that has been cleaned and put on display.
Erected to shelter those deemed irreparably damaged, Aradale Asylum harbored individuals labeled as irredeemable, facing a grim future devoid of hope for rehabilitation.
The staggering reality emerges in the average duration of psychiatric patients’ stay at Aradale—an unsettling 23.3 years. While such an extended period might seem fitting for the criminally insane, a critical issue surfaces. Among the 900+ occupants, not all were classified as criminally insane.
Tragically, Aradale housed individuals with conditions such as autism, Down syndrome, alcoholism, and postnatal depression. The asylum’s legacy reveals a history marked by inhumane treatment, compounded by misdiagnoses that only served to exacerbate the suffering and prolong the stays of those already burdened by their conditions.
“The purpose of the earliest mental institutions was neither treatment nor cure, but rather the enforced segregation of inmates from society,” – Jeffrey A. Lieberman in Shrinks: The Untold Story of Psychiatry. “
Aradale Is Believed To Be Australias Most Haunted
Aradale has become a popular destination for criminal history fans and paranormal investigators.
Featured numerous times on paranormal TV series and news articles.
Ghost Tours and the Aradale Book give visitors a glimpse of what it’s like to be in an abandoned mental asylum.
You can book a tour of the Aradale Lunatic Asylum, HERE