Inside The Mental : Silence, Stigma, Psychiatry, And LSD

In this candid and reflective memoir, Kay Parley recounts her personal journey through the world of mid-20th century psychiatry—first as a patient, then as a psychiatric nurse—at the Weyburn Mental Hospital in Saskatchewan. Renowned for its progressive approaches to mental health care, Weyburn was also a centre for groundbreaking research into the therapeutic use of LSD, particularly in the treatment of mental illness and addiction. Parley offers rare, firsthand insight into daily life inside the institution, and her narrative intersects with the work of prominent figures such as research psychiatrists Humphry Osmond and Abram Hoffer.