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Created with Fabric.js 1.4.5 Antebellum Mental Health Reform Ellie Covert KEY PEOPLE Dorothea DixNellie BlyDr. John M. Galt REFORM GOALS REFORM METHODS "... I come as the advocate of the helpless, forgotten, insane men and women; of beings sunk to a condition from which the unconcerned world would start with real horror." Dorothea Dix The efforts of mental health reformers during the antebellum era in America were some of the first to advocate for this group of citizens which was largely ignored by governments. Their crusade inspired other health-related reform movements and began a fight for mental health awareness which still continues today. The majority of the United States' mental health institutions exist today because of publicity and fundingfrom the pre-Civil War efforts of Dix, Bly, and Galt. LEGACY - separate convicts and mental health patients in prisons- raise state and federal funding for the advancement of mental health care facilities - improve conditions in mental health hospitals, where inmates lived in filthy jail-like cells and were often chained and beaten - advocate for humane diagnosis and treatment of the mentally ill - court appeals - Dix's investigation of mental health institutions followed by testimonial to legislatures - undercover reporting: Nellie Bly's "Ten Days In a Mad-House" - establishment of over 50 new mental health hospitals ACCOMPLISHMENTS - 1853: bill passed Congress to set aside land in trust and use income for mental health care, vetoed by President Pierce - government funding for the improvement of facilities - Bly's report raised awareness - increase in the use of positive treatment techniques, like the use of medication and "talk therapy"
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