Dorothea Dix

Personal Statement: 

Hello, my name is Dorothea Dix and I was born on April 4, 1802 in a quaint Maine town known as Hampden. I grew up with my parents but fled to my grandmother's house at the age of 12 to escape from my abusive and alcoholic father. While my childhood with my parents was rather hard it was the only time that I got an education, because shortly after I moved in with my grandmother I began teaching children in a school that I opened in an attempt to give poor and neglected children a fair educational opportunity. Along with teaching children, I also volunteered to teach the women at a women's prison which is where I began to notice the injustice regarding the treatment of the mentally ill prisoners. Such a sight gave me the motivation to push for reform of the prisons and mental hospitals, and it was my efforts that put an end to the cruel and torturous treatment of mentally ill patients.

Issues:

I am an American activist on behalf of the mentally unstable and have dedicated a majority of my life in an attempt to better both the mental facilities and the treatments of those patients. Ever since I began teaching at the women's prison I realized the cruelty behind the care of the inmates with mental disorders. I was both shocked and appalled at the fact that these poor people were subjected to abuse; lack of food, drink, clothing, and proper bedding; and forcibly chained up because of a mental disorder that's far out of their control. With the motivation of my religious ways, I refused to stand by idly while these people suffered simply because of poor care.

Solutions:

My strong objection to the treatment of the mentally ill in both the prisons and hospitals led me to work for reform of not only the physical being of the locations but also of the system. It was a big and difficult task however I was determined to make the change and give mentally ill patients the help and treatment they need and deserve. In order to make such a change possible I worked to pass legislation that would grant these patients a proper facility to stay in rather than be locked up along with dangerous prisoners. After many attempts, laws were passed and the change slowly became evident. Aside from legal action, my attempts could be considered successful simply because I was able to get the word out and raise awareness of the issue at hand. While unfortunately many people believed that the treatment of the mentally ill was fair thus looking down on me and my efforts, it didn't stop me from doing what's really right and fighting to spread awareness and change regarding the cruel treatment of the mentally ill.

Relationship to Others:

Aside from my own attempt to reform the prisons and asylums, there were many other reforms circulating the nation. I resist the abolition movement and that along with my undecided stance regarding the abolition of slavery brought much controversy and criticism on my behalf. On the other hand, I find the education of women to be very critical; however I never joined a feminism movement or publicly announced my support for the cause which is why being around feminists such as Susan B. Anthony would be rather uncomfortable.