The smoking room

[karenoliver]

Smoking room on the open wards of a recently vacated psychiatric hospital. The psychiatric units are amongst the only places where patients can still smoke.




Karen

[Cutter]

what stories must have been dicussed in that room, nice picture karen

[karenoliver]

Thanks, Mark. You're right about the stories and no doubt many tears were shed in there too. Its interesting to imagine the 2 different people sat on those two chairs at different times and what they could have been saying or not saying. If chairs could talk! :-)

Karen

[OldBoy]

Use to have one of them at work.

Cracking shot, and reading the message and the images on the walls.

[Balenciaga]

Great picture..very evocative almost as if people have just left the room and vanished..which in a way I suppose they have..Interesting smearing on the walls, the nicotine staining is very apparant..

Bal

[chris-p]

Lovely shot Karen, fairly recently abandoned by the looks of it. Most urbex stuff is normally more tatty looking - this is a pleasant change.

[pburness]

I think the doodles on the wall (smiley faces, flower etc.) are in stark contrast with the miserable looking room itself. So despite the location / status of the room you have to assume the occupants were happy..

Phil

[karenoliver]

Thanks everyone :-) Phil,Oldboy, despite the gloomy nature of the place I am sure there was optimism and this does shine through in the graffiti. Some more here which shows the attempt to be upbeat despite the situtation. I think the bright colours speak volumes. This was in another smoking room in the same place.



Bal, I think the smearing is where they've tried to clean the walls up. The nicotine stains were horrible and the smell was worse.

Chris, it is fairly recent since they left - December 6th just gone.

Karen

[pburness]

Nice until you read the bottom right corner "I want to go home".... then it hits you.

Phil

[karenoliver]

Originally Posted by pburness

Nice until you read the bottom right corner "I want to go home".... then it hits you.

Phil

Yeah :-) That smoking room was on the lockup ward so patients would have been held under various sections of the mental health act so not allowed to leave until they were discharged by their consultant psychiatrist. They do have rights to a mental health tribunal to try and get out but not all are successful.

Karen