Opening in 1921, Weyburn's Saskatchewan Mental Hospital has an incredibly rich history. A book, called "Managing Madness", has been compiled about the fall and rise of the Mental Hospital.

"How it quickly gained the reputation in North America as one of the worst mental hospitals, and within a few decades it earned a prize from the American Psychiatric Association as the most reformed and one of the best, leading lights in mental health care and mental health care facilities," says Erica Dyck, Canada Research Chair for the History of Medicine and co-author of Managing Madness.

At a time when many similar asylums were being shut down, Weyburn was building and opening theirs. The Hospital has been dubbed with many urban legends, most likely inspired from the darker years involving experimental treatments and LSD usage. The book doesn't touch too greatly on these items as the book focuses on fact. Dyck did mention that it may come as a surprise that some of these legends are in fact true.

"We really felt that trying to understand mental health services, trying to understand the experience of going through those services, really wasn't something that we could do alone," says Dyck.

The story of the Saskatchewan Mental Hospital isn't one that can be told by just one person. Dyck assembled a team that involved historians, students, a former Psychiatric Superintendent and much more. This team gathered information and spoke to previous employees and patients of the Hospital.

The Hospital closed in 2004, with its demolition occurring in 2009. It was the demolition that inspired Dyck to begin the book so that this large piece of Weyburn, Saskatchewan and even North American history isn't forgotten.

The book, "Managing Madness", is available online for purchase.