Kissy Mental Hospital

History

Kissy Lunatic Asylum was the first Lunatic Asylum established in colonial Sub-Saharan Africa. It was established in 1820 in Kissy and originally catered for both mentally and physically ill people who could not look after themselves. The Asylum was classified as a Colonial hospital in 1844. As the British expanded their colonial holdings. the catchment area of the asylum came to encompass the whole of British West Africa.