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Who was Dorothea Dix?
Who was Dorothea Dix?
Dorothea Dix was a mental health advocate in the late 1800s. She was a major figure in the mental health movement, a campaign to help remove the abusive aspects of mental asylums and provide proper treatment and care.
A sign located outside the Dorothea Dix hospital in North Carolina, from the NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.
An art piece of Dorothea Lynde Dix from 1849, from the Smithsonian National Portrait Galley.
"The first asylums funded through Dix's campaign began accepting patients in the 1830s, freeing scores of people
from restraints. With an approach that incorporated elements of moral treatment, superintendents strove for more
than humane custody; they sought to cure their patients. There is evidence that many patients improved and some
even recovered” (Nelson).
Dorothea's Plan and Results
Dorothea's Plan and Results
After the first encounter Dix had at the asylums, she began visiting and documenting the conditions of other institutions around the country. She began an important campaign with the goals of improving the lifestyles of those with mental conditions. Despite the time period, her campaign was well accepted and those in charge of institutions began making the effort to truly help the patients rather than treating them like a burden. The campaigns worked too, and evidence was found that after these campaigns some patients had a better life after the fact.
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