The Infinite Mind/LCMedia Online Store : CDs/Transcripts of award-winning public radio show : The Closing of Haverford State
Until the 1800s most mentally ill people were kept hidden away, usually in private homes, and often neglected or abandoned. Then reformer Dorothea Dix brought about change by lobbying to get the government involved. Psychiatric hospitals sprang up all over the country. They were meant to provide a safe haven for the mentally ill.
In reality, many hospitals were unable to offer much in the way of treatment or cure. But until the 1950s they were an important part of the American landscape. Then things began to change. New medications effective in treating the symptoms of mental illness meant that some could leave the institutions. As abusive conditions in many hospitals became more widely known, states began to think twice about building more. Higher health-care costs were also an important factor, and mental health advocates began to lobby against forced hospitalization, which became more difficult legally. As a result, the number of people in such facilities nation-wide began to plummet through the 60s, 70s, and 80s. According to the Center for Mental Health Services of the U.S. Public Health Service, in 1962, there were 526,000 people in state and county mental hospitals -- in 1996, just 70,000 remained.
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