31/ Land and By Air

chair and pinned the patient to the wall. We were then able to put him in the retention ward for the night to settle him down.

On another night, I was called to see a young man who had taken an overdose of LSD. I never saw anyone so disturbed. He was swearing and throwing himself on the floor and against the wall. We put mattresses on the floor which did not help much.

I gave him Largactil a couple of times which would settle most fighting patients. It didn’t work, and in despair, I said ”get me 10 mg. of a stronger drug. No sooner did I remove the syringe than he sat up and in the most normal voice said, ”Can I have a drink of water please?” All signs of insanity were gone.

Another patient became black from the top of the head to the lower neck. Her colour was as dark as most Africans. When I stopped her medication, her face slowly turned white again over a few days.

One day, I was at PEI Hospital when a couple of big, city police brought in a raving-mad, young man who had taken an overdose of magic mushrooms. He was trying to bite and kick the police who were helping to keep him on the examining table. The doctor in charge arranged to send him to Riverside.

I asked the doctor if he was finished with the patient, as I knew they would be calling me up to treat him as soon as he arrived at Riverside. When he said ”yes,” I gave the young man 10 mg. of (can’t identify the drug), and he sat right up, much to my surprise, and the surprise of the rest of the people present. ”What did you do to me?” the young man asked. He then got off the table, appearing normal, and went home.

I went to the mental hospital for about 18 years. I started at $5,000. a year and ended up at $18,000.00 a

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