500,000 people were locked in state psychiatric hospitals. Their descendants can’t find out why

Breta Meria Conole was in a state psychiatric hospital for more than two decades.

But the reason why is a family mystery.

Debby Hannigan, her great grandniece, tried for years to access Conole’s medical records, because she thought they might hold clues to mental health issues in her family, including her oldest daughter’s depression.

Hannigan […] ...