How Did Dorothea Dix Impact The Invention And Expansion Of The Hospital?

Dorothea Dix had a huge impact on the invention and expansion of the hospitals for the “mentally ill.” Dorothea Lynde Dix was born in Hampden, Maine, in 1802. She was the oldest of three. Her mother was Mary Bigelow Dix and her father was Joseph Dix. In 1814, she moved to Boston to live with her wealthy grandmother. Her grandmother was a wealthy 70 year old. She took the responsibility to take care of Dorothea and her two brothers. Dorothea, 12 was not used to the wealthy life. She was raised to give to those in need and not to take more than she's was supposed to. Her grandmother wanted Dorothea to act as if she had always been wealthy, but Dorothea did not want that. One day Dorothea gave her new clothing to beggar children which were

Her father was a Methodist preacher and her mother had become known as “mentally retarded.” Dorothea never liked people thinking of her mother as “mentally retarded” but she could not do anything about it at her age. Some say her mother being known as “mentally retarded” had a large impact on her helping to start hospitals for mentally ill people. She did not receive much from her mother nor her father. Her father was known as abusive or even nonexistent. Her mother was not right in the head and her father was an alcoholic. In her later years as an adult Dorothea came out and said “I never knew childhood.” This shows that Dix had to grow up really fast for her age and had to help care for her two brother, so her grandmother would not have to take on that role by herself. Although her father taught her to read and write so when she entered school she was way ahead of everyone

Dorothea helped people, that is what she loved doing. At the age of 54 Dorothea had traveled half of the United States and Europe inspecting institutions, jails, etc. for mistreatment. Dorothea was a critic of cruel and neglectful practices toward the mentally ill, such as caging, incarceration (being in prison) without clothing, and painful physical restraint. If Dix could help someone out in anyway possible she would do it. She saw something that nobody else had seen. She realized that she needed to challenge the idea that people with mental disturbances could be cured or helped. Dix soon began to investigate the treatment of the mentally ill in Massachusetts, and in 1843 submitted her first “memorial” to the state legislature. The memorial shows how Dix worked within the conventions of herself in public life and draws attention to the horrendous treatment of the mentally ill in prisons, almshouses for the poor, and asylums. Dix’s efforts to help the mentally ill led to building of about 32 institutions in the United