History and Overview of Insane Asylums

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For many decades the mentally ill or insane have been hated, shunned, and discriminated against by the world. They have been thrown into cruel facilities, said to help cure their mental illnesses, where they were tortured, treated unfairly, and given belittling names such as retards, insane, demons, and psychos. However, reformers such as Dorothea Dix thought differently of these people and sought to help them instead. She saw the inhumanity in these facilities known as insane asylums or mental institutions, and showed the world the evil that wandered inside these asylums. Although movements have been made to improve conditions in insane asylums, and were said to help and treat the mentally ill, these brutally abusive places were full of disease and disorder, and were more like concentration camps similar to those in Europe during WWII than hospitals. 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... ... middle of paper ... ... of these wards that the term “insane asylum” has negative connotations. Mentally ill people did not get the proper treatment and care they needed, and to this day have not received the proper justice that they deserve. Works Cited Bly, Nellie. Ten Days in a Mad-House. New York: Ian L. Munro, 2011. Print English Heritage. “From Bethlehem to Bedlam – England’s First Mental Institution | English Heritage.” English Heritage Home Page | English Heritage. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Apr. 2014. Maisel, Albert Q. “Bedlam 1946. The Lobotamist. WGBH American Experience | PBS.” American Experience. WBGH Educational Foundation, n.d.Web. 30 Mar. 2014. “NC DSOHF: History of Dorothea Dix Hospital.” NC Department of Health and Human Services. N.p., 23 Aug. 2012. Web. 16 Apr. 2014. “Out of an Insane Asylum.” The New York Times [Oil City, Penn.] 26 Mar. 1880: n. pag. Web. 30 Mar. 2014.

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