Dorothea Dix: An Advocate for All
- Yukta Shah
- May 16, 2022
- 3 min read
Updated: May 16, 2022
Throughout history mental asylums have been notorious for their poor treatment of patients. You have most likely heard of these torturous asylums, the ones that we only think appear in horror movies or scary novels now? The reason that many of these inhumane and violent asylums have vanished from our society today, is a result of the 19th-century activist, Dorothea Dix and her hopes to change the treatment of the mentally ill.
Born in Maine on April 4th, 1802, it is believed that Dorothea Dix grew up in a hostile home environment with alcoholic parents and an abusive father. It was perhaps her harsh childhood that shaped her to become the considerate and proactive activist she was later in her life.
To escape from violence at home, 12-year-old Dix had moved out of her parent's home and into her grandmother's in Boston. In her school in Boston, Dix tutored other kids. At 14 she had begun teaching at a school and by the age of 17, Dix managed to open her own school for girls with her passion for teaching named the Dix Mansion. Throughout her life, Dorothea took every chance she possibly could to better teach her students and other children. It wasn't until her teaching job in 1841, that her career pivoted.
In 1841 Dix was given the opportunity to teach at a Sunday school in an all-women's prison, the East Cambridge Jail. It was then that she noticed and realized the poor treatment given to the prisoners there. For instance, Dix was disgusted by the fact that there was no heating system for the prisoners. Being the proactive activist she was, Dix went to the government and asked for an order to provide heat for all the prisoners.
Dix became curious about the treatment of prisoners in other correction centers as well, which is why she began researching different prisons and taking note of their conditions and treatment of inmates. Dix noticed a pattern of mistreatment towards the mentally ill prisoners and began investigating hospitals for the mentally ill as well. What she discovered was appalling. The poor and dirty conditions the mentally ill were kept in did not sustain a comfortable life. Dix reported her research on the mistreatment of mentally ill patients to several populations which led to her unpopularity for exposing the terrible treatment. Yet, Dix pushed through the backlash she faced as an activist. Dix made countless improvements and additions to asylums and treatment centers for the mentally ill. Dorothea's
presentation of her findings and exposing mental institutions led to the government supporting an increased budget for expanding the State Mental Hospital at Worcester. Dorothea Dix's work also led to the creation of over 30 asylums and institutions built across the country.
Figure 2: https://www.timetoast.com/timelines/dorothea-dix-life-bb44710c-c6de-4918-a192-af5546fab555
Without Dix's help to raise awareness and change the way we think about mental asylums, we may have never created a truly safe haven for the mentally ill. For a long time in history, the majority of mankind viewed mental illnesses as a papercut compared to any physical damage to the body. Mental illnesses were thought to be connected with black magic and other supernatural factors that were thought incurable. Today many of us are able to realize we can support someone suffering from a mental illness in whatever way possible because we have an open mindset. Dorothea Dix's exposè on the appalling treatment of the mentally ill normalized supportive behavior for those suffering mentally.
"It is a queer thing, but imaginary troubles are harder to bear than actual ones" - Dorthy Dix
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