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”The seeds of deinstitutionalization began being sowed early in the 20th century, with the advent of early medical and surgical therapies for mental illness. Years before the discovery of penicillin, Julius Wagner-Jauregg
opens in a new tab or window developed a treatment for neurosyphilis using malaria in 1917. Electroconvulsive therapy
opens in a new tab or window was introduced in 1938, not long after barbiturate drugs became widely used for issues like insomnia and anxiety. Around this time, the unfortunate practice of prefrontal lobotomies also became widely used and was seen as a therapy that could make the mentally ill more agreeable and less aggressive” (Vece).
What Changed?
What Changed?
With the help of Dorothea Dix, certain aspects of mental institutions were removed based on the location of the asylum such as strait jackets and chains. However, into the 20th century the development of new forms of “treatment” were found to be just as cruel. This includes electrotherapy, lobotomies on the frontal lobe, and various new drugs all in the attempt to relax or make the mentally ill more “manageable”. Of course this is not what Dix had in mind during her reform movement but society’s views on the mentally ill were not yet changed.
Lobotomy Knives, 1950, Digital Public Library of America.
Lobotomy Knives
Lobotomy Knives
This image shows a set of lobotomy tools used in the early 20th century, over 100 years after the movement by Dorothea Dix. This image is important because it’s a reminder that Dix may have tried to improve the conditions and treatment of the mentally ill, but still, 100 years later, doctors had yet to catch on and continued to use cruel methods such as the lobotomy to “treat” the mentally ill.
Fever Therapy
Fever Therapy
Fever therapy is one of the many bizarre forms of treatment in the 20th century. Those suffering from mental illness would have malaria infected blood injected to their bodies so the resulting fever would kill off whatever illness the patient had. Image from CBS News.
Electric Shock Therapy
Electric Shock Therapy
One of the more cruel forms of mental illness treatment, therapy involving electricity. Early electric therapy was used to treat any illness, but in the 20th century it was used as electroconvulsive therapy and was more so used as a punishment for patients who acted out. Image from CBS News.
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