During the nineteenth century there was a movement to reform institutions in the United States to state mental hospitals. An important individual in the reforming of America's mental institutions was a Massachusetts schoolteacher named Dorothea Lynde Dix. In her investigations of the privately funded institutions for the mentally ill that were only available for the wealthy, she discovered horrendous living conditions. Therefore she advocated for publicly funded state hospitals (Millon et al., 2004). As a result of her efforts state hospitals were formed in thirty states (Kiesler & Sibulkin, 1987). Massachusetts was one of the first states in New England to create a state mental hospital in 1832. This hospital was headed by Samuel B. Woodward,
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In the United States, the annual admission rate went from 31 in 1820 to 182 in 1870. Also, the average number of patients in an asylum rose from 57 to 473. As a result, any attempt at a therapeutic approach was abandoned and asylums became custodial in nature after the 1880’s. This problem was felt throughout Europe, for example by 1911 in France asylums were holding double the amount of patients as their designed capacity (Shorter, 1997). Additionally, as a result of the increase in size, the quality of care differed by class, race, and ethnicity. The strain was felt even more deeply, as a result of more long-term cases. For example, the number of individuals over the age of sixty in states increased at the end of the nineteenth century …show more content…
Beers. This began following his mistreatment on three occasions when he was a patient in a mental hospital. Within a book titled A Mind That Found Itself, Beers, described his experiences with staff he felt lacked education and consideration (Millon et al., 2004). Clifford Beers began the National Committee for Mental Hygiene in 1909. This organization conducted surveys of mental hospitals (Kiesler & Sibulkin, 1987). In addition, along with the Society for Mental Hygiene he advocated improvement of mental hospitals and education for the public on prevention and stigma associated with mental illness. Although, on a practical level the lack of criteria made the Society for Mental Hygiene unsuccessful as an organization (Millon et al., 2004). Ironically, Clifford Beers died in a mental hospital in 1943 (Kiesler & Sibulkin,
In the United States, the annual admission rate went from 31 in 1820 to 182 in 1870. Also, the average number of patients in an asylum rose from 57 to 473. As a result, any attempt at a therapeutic approach was abandoned and asylums became custodial in nature after the 1880’s. This problem was felt throughout Europe, for example by 1911 in France asylums were holding double the amount of patients as their designed capacity (Shorter, 1997). Additionally, as a result of the increase in size, the quality of care differed by class, race, and ethnicity. The strain was felt even more deeply, as a result of more long-term cases. For example, the number of individuals over the age of sixty in states increased at the end of the nineteenth century …show more content…
Beers. This began following his mistreatment on three occasions when he was a patient in a mental hospital. Within a book titled A Mind That Found Itself, Beers, described his experiences with staff he felt lacked education and consideration (Millon et al., 2004). Clifford Beers began the National Committee for Mental Hygiene in 1909. This organization conducted surveys of mental hospitals (Kiesler & Sibulkin, 1987). In addition, along with the Society for Mental Hygiene he advocated improvement of mental hospitals and education for the public on prevention and stigma associated with mental illness. Although, on a practical level the lack of criteria made the Society for Mental Hygiene unsuccessful as an organization (Millon et al., 2004). Ironically, Clifford Beers died in a mental hospital in 1943 (Kiesler & Sibulkin,