Dorothea Dix Mental Health

Before the eighteenth century, mental illness was thought to be a problem spiritually. Whenever people started acting weird ,they were thought to be wracked with sin or even possessed by demons (“The Asylum Movement”, 1997). One woman, Dorothea Dix, became a reformer for mentally ill patients. Dix was not alone, however. In addition, a woman named Nellie Bly, a journalist, also helped show the inhumane treatments of the mentally ill.

Dorothea Dix Dorothea Dix reformed the conditions of prisoners and the mentally ill. Dorothea had realized that a few prisoners weren't even guilty, they just had mental illnesses. Dorothea´s life work became telling the public about the conditions the inmates were in and also the mentally ill. Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Lucretia Mott Early on, Elizabeth and Lucrecia had organized a women's rights convention in Seneca Falls.

The Encounter with Dorothea Dix Women's Rights Maddie Wiedenfeld Senior Division Historical Paper “I come to present the strong claims of suffering humanity. I come to place before the Legislature of Massachusetts the condition of the miserable, the desolate, the outcast. I come as the advocate of helpless, forgotten, insane men and women; of beings sunk to a condition from which the unconcerned world would start with real horror.” As women, there will always be some disadvantages to men. Although these disadvantages will always be there we are more than blessed to have some things that women back in the 1800s did not.

The gradual growth of interest in mental health resulted in deinstitutionalization, or the discharge of prison and asylums in the 1960’s. This resulted in the development of new medication and ways to treat mental illness (Simmons, 1990). This changed allowed the once permanent patients of the asylums to be released into society into the care of their loved ones (Newman, 1998). However, this was unsuccessful as the government did not develop and improve community services.

Mental illness has been around since the days of recorded history. People such as Aristotle, Thomas Overbury, and Jean de la Bruyere have studied the personality disorders. However, through history, people with personality disorders have been shunned and feared because of who they are.

In 1893, Lillian Wald founded the Henry Street Settlement in New York City which was dedicated to education in both the science and art fields( Click here to learn more). She started “preventive programs for schoolchildren, infants, mothers, and patients with tuberculosis” (Buhler-Wilkerson) as a way to help educate the public. Created a health insurance plan for those needing home care( Today

In the late 1800’s people with mental illness weren 't accomdated like people are today. Often people with illnesses, such as bipolar disorder, we 're teased and forced to lock themselves in a room away from civilization. No one truly cared for those with mental illness or tried to find out ways to accomdate them in school or regular life. Even when mental hospitals became more helpful those suffering from different illnesses would rather stay at home in fear than to seek professional help because of the risk of getting teased or called pathetic. The mentally ill patients were made prisoners, sent to alms houses or forced to remain at home because the first colonist believed they were “sick in the head” due to practicing

She supported most of political agreements although she didn 't do everything with the public. Adams made women 's lives easier that way. In the early stages of getting the rights she wrote papers and made complaints. She always wanted to help with women 's rights and she greatly believed that God had to do with the

The Red Cross organization already existed, but she brought it to America and revolutionized it as well. “She wanted the American Red Cross to help the victims of natural disasters, not just war, and she later persuaded the International Red Cross to do that too” (Summers). Along with this, she helped the Red Cross push many treaties. International human kindness had never been this influential. On top of everything, she came up with new ways to care for people.

One can not research social work without coming across the name Jane Addams. Jane’s work within the world of social reform, had a great deal of lasting power. She was at the time of her death, best known for establishing the Hull house and advocating for fair treatment of immigrant communities. Her work may have started in Chicago, but reached worldwide with her reform. Jane Addams influences had a wide reach with lasting results, the greatest being the Hull house.

In the book Girl, Interrupted, by Susanna Kaysen, one of the biggest focal points is mental illness. Mental illness can be tough to talk about, simply because the phrase “mental illness” encompasses such a wide range of conditions and conjures up images of deranged people, but it is very important, especially in this book. There is a certain stigma that people who are put into mental hospitals because they have medical problems or are insane and a possible danger to society. While this is sometimes true, it is far more common for patients to need help for a disorder, but just don’t know where to go or what to do, and can end up putting themselves or someone else in danger.

The state is responsible, and the Part of the blame for this growing issue in our country. The result of the deinstitution movement in the 1960’s. This movement Majority of state of mental hospitals. This was because of the introduction of anti-psychics. Also people thought that that mentally ill patients should be helped and treated in their communities not inside of mental health hospital or insane asylum’s.

Deinstitutionalization did not end up working for the betterment of the patients because even though the Kennedy administration's ideas were trying to help the mentally ill by having smaller institutions so they were more personal they failed because making these mentally ill people go out into society before they were ready and it caused more problems. Another reason deinstitutionalization failed was because there was very little funding for these patients and since there was no funding there was no housing or medications for these

The Reform of mentally ill was led by Dorthea Dix, a teacher and activist for the treatment of

In the late 19th century, there were many influential women including Susan B. Anthony, Harriet Beecher Stowe, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and many others that were busy making their impact on society. This was the crucial time period for the reform and improvement of women’s rights. Along with this, it was also the time that Clara Barton pushed for the creation of the American Red Cross. Barton was one of the most influential, but often overlooked, woman of her time period because she pushed for the creation of one of the most relied on associations throughout the world. On December 25, 1821, Clara Barton was born the youngest of five children.