This movement started in the 1960s by the advocates that thoughts that the institution were being inhumane to the mentally ills. Dorothea Dix was a big advocate of this movement she had witnessed the way the mentally ills were being treated, and she wanted to change all those inhumane treatments. Dix did everything in her power to change and stop that. Dix was not the only one who was trying to change this system; Philippe Pinel was also a part of it. Between the years of 1841 and 1881, Dix mission was to raise money and bring awareness to the public by alerting them of the horrible condition under which the mentally ills were living in. The money she had collected went to the construction of new hospitals that offered better living conditions …show more content…
There were a number of antipsychotics drugs that were being introduced back then, but the most common and popular of it all was chlorpromazine otherwise known as its generic brand Thorazine. Thorazine was the first drug created that was antipsychotic. Those antipsychotics medicine are usually prescribed to treat mental illness especially, schizophrenia. These medications gave mentally ill individuals the chance to function normally; the fighting, kicking, head-banging, and cursing vanished (Isaac & Armat, 1990, p. 20). As a result of the use of those new antipsychotics medicine, mental patients experienced fewer symptoms of their disorders, and it became more manageable. Although this medicine did not fully cure the mentally illness, they were given to them in lack of better care. This medicine had a lot of side effects on the mentally unstable individual such as hindering motor functions, unable to form a word, and so forth. The side effects of this medicine that caused hindrance to motor function of the patients caused them to start shuffling which became known as the “Thorazine Shuffle”. Due to this sudden shift in the mentally individual illness, “the widespread use of new drugs beginning with Thorazine in 1955 served as a catalyst for the release of many patients from psychiatric hospitals” (Krieg, 2001, p. 367), it has allowed institution to …show more content…
Supporters of deinstitutionalization argue that severe mental illness should be treated in a least restrictive settings such as a community-based settings instead of a state hospital. They also believed that it will benefit and increased the chances of positive treatments for the mentally ill with their illness instead of confining them in a cell like a prisoner, just like they did back during the sixteenth century before the reform. Advocates of deinstitutionalization argue that patients are not prepared to handle what is outside of the hospital and even if they can adjust to the situation, certain life stressors might trigger the relapse that will only make them come back to the hospital. It will be better for the mentally ill to stay in the hospital instead of sending to a community that lack accommodation for
Dorothea Lynde Dix was quoted as saying, “In a world where there is so much to be done, I felt strongly impressed that there must be something for me to do.” Dix began at the age of 39, and spent the next 20 years as a social reformer for the treatment of the mentally ill. When asked to teach a Sunday School class at a women’s correctional facility, Dix was appalled at the conditions, as well as the fact that many of the women weren’t criminals, but were instead mentally ill. This is where her crusade began. Her work had immediate results throughout the country, and the changes are still being felt even today.
Known as an American philanthropist and reformer, Dorothea Dix transformed living conditions in prisons and established institutions for the mentally insane in 20 states, as well as Canada (“DIX”). Through her crusade for fair treatment of the mentally insane, Dorothea Dix exemplifies the ideals of her time – to protect the rights of all human beings, no matter their age, race, or mental capacity.
The mentally ill was mistreated, beaten, thrown into unclean quarters, and even taken advantage of before the 1800's. They was viewed as helpless individuals. Society and the government viewed them as criminals and deemed them incurable. During the 1800's a pioneer named Dorothea Dix brought about a change dealing with the treatment of the mentally ill. She became the voice of them something they never had.
Deinstitutionalization started off as something that may have seemed honorable and sensible to those in our society back in the 1900’s as it seems like it was started in the sole interest of those who were mentally ill. Some of the most common reasons as to why deinstitutionalization was started are because the government wanted to put to stop the unethical treatment of the mentally ill who were often packed int...
-Lieberman JA, Stroup TS, McEvoy JP, Swartz MS, Rosenheck RA, Perkins DO, Keefe RS, Davis SM, Davis CE, Lebowitz BD, Severe J, Hsiao JK. Effectiveness of antipsychotic drugs in patients with chronic schizophrenia. N Engl J Med. 2005. Web.
Born in 1802, Dorothea Dix played an important role in changing the ways people thought about patients who were mentally-ill and handicapped. These patients had always been cast-off as “being punished by God”. She believed that that people of such standing would do better by being treated with love and caring rather than being put aside. As a social reformer, philanthropist, teacher, writer, writer, nurse, and humanitarian, Dorothea Dix devoted devoted her life to the welfare of the mentally-ill and handicapped. She accomplished many milestones throughout her life and forever changed the way patients are cared for. She was a pioneer in her time, taking on challenges that no other women would dare dream of tackling.
Like the majority of the world, people in the United States did not support the mental institutions necessary for the insane to be properly cared for. For example, the federal government of the United States wanted no part in funding and supporting these institutions, and left that power to the states. The state governments often times neglected the asylums and would not fund them, leaving the unfunded asylums without resources or money. Dorothea Dix, a reformer of the 1800s, saw what the state and federal governments were doing to these poor mentally ill people and made several movements to improve living conditions and better the funding towards maintenance and treatment in these mental institutions. After she showed the citizens of the United States the torture they were putting the mentally ill through, large protests against the government spread nationwide. The government hea...
Solitary confinement borders cruel and unusual punishment due to its association to extreme mental illnesses of its prisoners. Studies have shown healthy people obtaining mental illnesses after being confined for a short period of time. For most people this association, as well as its high cost to maintain the use of solitary confinement, is enough to stop the use of this style of incarseration and closing strictly solitary prisons. Others believe that restoring rehabilitating activities and medical attention for prisoners is more preferable than closing the prisons, because the prison is the prime employer of the small towns they were built in.
Before antipsychotic drugs, people were locked away in asylums and in some cases doctors would use a surgical procedure for cutting nerve pathways in the frontal lobes of the brain, called lobotomy. Then around the 1950’s to the 1980’s, the first generation of antipsychotics was discovered. These drugs were developed because there was a lack of facilities for mental patients and very few people to care for these people. Apparently antipsychotic drugs are more humane for civilians with mental illnesses (Sue).
The prison reform started January 1st 1870 and ended December 31st 1970. This reform bettered the prison system and changed prison and mental institutions not only in America but as well as Europe. Some successes that came from this reform was the widespread establishment of mental institutions, increased attention to prisoner’s rights, redefining prison procedure, and the attempt to cure mental illness although Dorothea Dix’s federal bill did fail. This reform swept the country and it all begin with Dorothea Dix thanks to her the prison system was changed
The idea of mental illnesses, diseases, and disorders may frighten some people, but there is more to the concept. Many rules and regulations have been changed or modified to accommodate mental health care. The effect of removing mental patients from the care of specialists has been defined as deinstitutionalization. The concepts of deinstitutionalization include its definition, its effect on mental hospitals, its effect on community mental hospitals, and homeless populations. Deinstitutionalization can mean many things to many different people.
Those with mental illness would live in the community with an array of services and be able to be free from the constraints of confinement. In the early 1960’s the United States began an initiative to reduce and close publicly-operated mental hospitals. This became known as deinstitutionalization. The goal of deinstitutionalization was to allow people suffering from mental illness to live more independently in the community with treatments provided through community health programs. Unfortunately, the federal government did not provide sufficient ongoing funding for the programs to meet the growing demand. States reduced their budgets for mental hospitals but failed to increase funding for on-going community-based mental health programs. As a result of deinstitutionalization hundreds of thousands of mentally ill people were released into the community without the proper resources they needed for their treatment. (Harcourt,
Stahl, S. M., & Mignon, L. (2010). Antipsychotics: Treating psychosis, mania and depression (2nd ed.).
New drugs are being made in order to address the issue of undesirable and intolerable side effects of conventional antipsychotic drugs. Works Cited Comer, R. J. & Co., Inc. (2011). Fundamentals of abnormal psychology. New York, NY. Worth Publishers Nasar, S. (2001).A beautiful mind: the life of mathematical genius and Nobel laureate John Nash.
Over the last century, information technology, such as the Internet, has brought our society forward and helps us get through life more efficiently and conveniently. In addition, it helps making global communication easier and faster as compared to hand-written mails that may take days if not weeks to reach its intended recipient. However, with such luxury and convenience, there is a debate whether the way we currently interact with fellow human beings with the help of technology is good or bad to our personal relationships. The Internet has increased the amount of communication globally, yet ironically the very technology that helps us increase our communication hinders our ability to socialize effectively in real life and create a healthy interpersonal relationship.