Dorothea Dix Impact On Society

Illness is one of the few experiences that all humans have in common and generally is met with empathy. However, people who suffer from mental illness are not privy to this treatment. For centuries, mental disorders have been demonized and stigmatized even in the modern era where humans have a much better understand of the mechanisms of the mind. Before the advent of psychiatry in the eighteenth-century people believed that mental illness was actually demonic possession resulting in the ostracization and murder of the mentally ill in the name of God. The Victorian era was met with a different view of mental illness, in that it was understood that it was a malady of the mind and people needed constant medical treatment, thus federally mandated asylums were created. Since mental illness was not understood there was a lot of misconceptions and fear surrounding the field. It is no surprise that the master of macabre and the creator of Horror, Edgar Allen Poe, decided to explore themes of mental illness in his stories. Poe’s most famous story about mental illness was The Fall of the House of Usher, where the main characters are plagued with an undisclosed mental malady. Through Poe’s use of point of view, style, tone, and tropes, he painted a perfect picture of the Victorian view of the mentally ill and the mind of the artist which was believed to be different faces of the same coin.

In the 1840s, Dorothea Dix introduced the concept of humane treatment for individuals with mental illness. She advocated for better treatment and

Many years ago, mental illness was viewed as a demonic possession or a religious punishment. In the 18th century, the attitudes towards mental illness were negative and persistent. This negativity leads to the stigmatization and confinement of those who were mentally ill. The mentally ill were sent to mental hospitals that were unhealthy and dangerous. A push in the mid 1950s for deinstitutionalization began because of activists lobbying for change. Dorothea Dix was one of these activists that helped push for change. The change called for more community oriented care rather than asylum based care. The Community Mental Health Centers Act of 1963 closed state psychiatric hospitals throughout the United States. "Only individuals who posed an imminent danger to themselves or someone else could be committed to state psychiatric hospitals" (A Brief History of Mental Illness and the U.S. Mental Health Care System). Deinstitutionalization meant to improve quality of life and treatment for those who are mentally ill. This would hopefully result in the mentally ill receiving treatment so they could live more independently. The hope was that community mental health programs would provide this treatment but sadly there was not sufficient or ongoing funding to meet the growing demand for these programs. Budgets for mental hospitals were reduced but there was no increase for the community based programs. Many mentally ill individuals have been moved to nursing homes or other residential

Dorothea Lynde Dix was born on April 4, 1802, in Hampden, Maine (1). She grew up in a religious home with her two siblings and her mother, Mary Bigelow Dix and her father, Joseph Dix. With her father being a distributor of religious tracts, Dix had to help stich and paste them together. She did not enjoy this chore. At the age of 12, Dix left her home and moved in with her aunt. She left to escape from an emotionally absent mother and an abusive father (2). Dorothea Dix had a hard childhood and became sensitive to others hardships due to the abuse of her father. After leaving, “She began teaching school at age 14. In 1819, she returned to Boston and founded the Dix Mansion, a school for girls, along with a charity school that poor girls could attend for free. She began writing textbooks, with her most famous, Conversations on Common Things, published in 1824 (1).” She enjoyed teaching and was accustomed to it due to having to watch her siblings during her parents “episodes”. Dorothea Dix suffered

"There are few cases in history where a social movement of such proportions can be attributed to the work of a single individual" (Kovach) At the age of thirty-nine, a woman by the name of Dorothea Dix devoted the rest of her life as an advocate to the humane attitude toward the mentally ill. She traveled the world from state to state visiting each and every prison, almhouse, asylum, orphanage, and hidden hovel documenting everything and anything she saw. After her intricate study of what she had been a witness of she wrote a letter or "memorial" and presented it to a legislator she knew who would present it to each legislature in each state she had studied. Dorothea Dix was the pioneering force in the movement to reform the

There were many problems in society that no one knew of until Eleanor Roosevelt brought them to light. “It’s easy to stand with the crowd. It takes courage to stand alone.” Mahatma Gandhi said. Eleanor decided to do what was right and help people instead of going along with what other people thought. Her rough childhood pushed her to help people that were oppressed. Eleanor especially knew what it was like to be ignored.

To begin with by examining Diox firmness, mentality , and heroic personality it was clear that Dorothea Dix was able to stop injustice going on in the East Cambridge prison. It all began that same year Diox and some friends travel to england, returning home different not the same girl she was when she left home. She had different interests, new approaches to the treatment of insane. Diox took a job teaching inmates in an East Cambridge prison, where the conditions were so abysmal and the treatment for prisoners so inhumane, that she began agitating at once their improvement. Prisoners at that time were unregulated and unhygienic, with violent criminals housed side by side with mental illness. Diox later on she began to visit every public and

Furthermore, tremendous advances have been made in the understanding and treatment of mental illnesses in the recent decades. Nowadays, someone with a mental illness is treated with respect, just like every other person, because, in fact, everyone is equal. Society’s goals today are to treat and support the mentally ill individuals enough so they can live in

Dorothea Dix was a woman who stood for the treatment and housing conditions of prisoners and the mentally ill.She observed and documented what she had seen and experienced. Her documentation changed her audiences minds and started the reform.

Dorothea Dix was a woman of many passions. She was fond of helping others and always put effort into everything she did. Many found this odd because it was told that she had a “cold” personality and was anti-social. Dix was a dedicated teacher, leader of female nurses in the Army, and an activist.However, Dix was most famous for advocating better treatment for the mentally ill in prisons.

Dorothea Dix founded numerous hospitals and treatment centers for the mentally ill. In my research I found on an online resource that, “In all she played a major role in the founding of 32 mental hospitals, 15 schools for the feeble minded, a school for the blind, and numerous nurse training facilities.” This quote shows her effort to make the lives of the mentally ill better by giving them a safe place to live. This, however, is not all she did for the mentally ill.

Dorothea Lynde Dix was salient to the development of both the Reform and Civil War Eras that she lived during, and to the overall United States. Moreover, Dorothea Dix had minor, but crucial, contributions to the education of children during her early years, which would help her effort in creating different perspective and establishing institutions for the mentally ill. Her onerous efforts even required her to plead to the State Legislative body, which was essential in achieving her goals for the mentally ill. In addition, Dix contributed to the Civil War when she was appointed superintendent of nurses for the Union army. Dix’s action would leave a permanent mark to the character of the United States when she helped form institutions for the mentally ill and wrote the “Bill of the Benefit of the Indigent Insane.”

Mid-twentieth century American society is and always has been notorious for its discrimination of select groups of people. Misjusdged and mistreated because of characteristics such as race, gender, and religion, it is no surprise that change was desired by those who did not belong in the apex of society. Amongst those angered by cultural stereotypes was author Sylvia Plath, whose writings focused on both women’s gender roles and the treatment of the mentally ill in the 1950s. By American society’s definition, a woman’s role in the 1950s was to firstly put themselves forward as intellectuals and being successful within their careers, but then to accept that as a former life of theirs, and redirect their focus on getting married and tending to their family. These young girls were expected to go to universities and compete for jobs requiring impressive resumes, and then drop everything to become the domestic servant and child bearer of her husband. Many women remained silent or indifferent on this issue, but groups such as NOW, National Organization for Women, and other activists sought to find a solution to gender inequality (“National Organization … ”). A similar battle was fought by those who exhibited any signs of mental illness -- People were unable to empathize with the mentally ill, and therefore subjected them to harsh and inefficient methods of treatment. Using electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), lobotomies, and a myriad of medications (the effectiveness of which had not

The mentally ill were cared for at home by their families until the state recognized that it was a problem that was not going to go away. In response, the state built asylums. These asylums were horrendous; people were chained in basements and treated with cruelty. Though it was the asylums that were to blame for the inhumane treatment of the patients, it was perceived that the mentally ill were untamed crazy beasts that needed to be isolated and dealt with accordingly. In the opinion of the average citizen, the mentally ill only had themselves to blame (Surgeon General’s Report on Mental Health, 1999). Unfortunately, that view has haunted society and left a lasting impression on the minds of Americans. In the era of "moral treatment", that view was repetitively attempted to be altered. Asylums became "mental hospitals" in hope of driving away the stigma yet nothing really changed. They still were built for the untreatable chronic patients and due to the extensive stay and seemingly failed treatments of many of the patients, the rest of the society believed that once you went away, you were gone for good. Then the era of "mental hygiene" began late in the nineteenth century. This combined new concepts of public health, scientific medicine, and social awareness. Yet despite these advancements, another change had to be made. The era was called "community mental health" and

After her fighting with the U.S. congress Dorothea was physically worn out by trying to achieve her dream in trying to help the mentally challenge. Her generosity was so vast that she was known for making 30 hospitals for the mentally ill. Dorothea Dix contributions are that she was a social reformer. One of Dorothea’s famous quotes was “the insane do not feel heat or cold.” (4) When the confederate forces withdrew from Gettysburg they left behind 5,000 injured soldiers who were treated by Dix’s Nurses.