Essay On Dorothea Dix

In the past, many mentally disabled patients were treated poorly. In the 1800s, many patients never received the proper care they needed for their illnesses. Dix was a major advocate for these people during the 1800s. Because of how poorly the mentally ill were treated while in asylums, Dorothea Dix took the negative experiences of her childhood to politically fight for a change in how the asylums treated the disabled, ultimately creating many more safe institutions for the disabled that can still be seen today. Dorothea Dix’s experiences with negativity throughout her early life helped her become a better person and a stronger advocate for the disabled. Some of the experiences that shaped her were Dix’s abuse by her dad, her mom’s mental

One example of this is when Dix spoke to government officials and argued that they had a duty to aid the poor, people with mental illness, and the most vulnerable citizens, including people in jail, with dignity (Muckenhoupt). She wrote to the government to convince them they needed to fix how the mentally ill were treated. Dix was worried not only about the mentally ill being treated better but also about the laws being changed permanently. She believed that the country was lacking in the proper respect and treatment of the mentally ill, so she went to the leaders of the country who could make the changes she wanted legally required. In 1843, Dix showed her research to the state legislature. The legislature agreed to fund the Worcester State Lunatic Hospital’s need for expansion after many weeks of disagreement (Wheeler and McGuire). This became a major significance for starting up the reformation of mental asylums. Because she was in touch with the government and able to get the money to fund the expansion, it led to the beginning of many other hospitals being created to properly treat the mentally

Dix, by herself, had most of the public asylums east of the Mississippi River created during the 1900s (Muchenhoupt). This was the start of many more asylums being created and showed what changes she was making. She helped create more safe spaces for people with mental problems so that they had a place to stay and caregivers to help them with their illnesses. Dorothea Dix also supervised the formation of 32 mental asylums and successfully created legislative changes in 15 states. (Wheeler and McGuire). Because of Dorothea Dix's fight for a change in mental asylums, there are many more safe places for people with mental disorders to stay. Her work made a change in how the mentally ill were