In this article I discovered that during that time period many mental illnesses went untreated. And if the person's illness was discovered they would be imprisoned. The prisons in which the mentally ill were kept had very bad conditions. An advocate for the mentally ill , Dorothy Dix, urged for more humane treatment of patients. After she urged the Illinois Legislature to provide appropriate care the Jacksonville Insane Asylum was opened in 1851. I am surprised to hear how mental patients were not treated correctly in the 19th century with many weird methods like electrocution patients. It lets me realize how advanced medicine is today.
It was interesting that during this time period society thought of electrocution as a humane way to treat the mentally ill. I wonder what they would have considered an unacceptable way to treat the mentally ill?
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