Overcrowding In The 1800s

The era of the 1900s- 2000s brought about setbacks as well as advancements of mental health regarding treatments, education, and reform bringing us to where we are today.
During the period of the great depression, the population was thrown into a tailspin resulting in the overcrowding of sick, elderly and ill in mental asylums. Families would often submit their elderly relatives to asylums because they lacked the resources or time to deal with them appropriately. The problem with overcrowding developed because the institutions had no established criteria for accepting or rejecting patients into their care. Rapid growth in population caused patient care to suffer ( toddlertime). Examples of overcrowding were present all over the nation including
A monthly rate of accidents reached up to 12 serious injuries in April 1946. Some of these injuries included cases fractures to hips, necks, noses(The History Of Issues,102-103). In some institutions like Manhattan state aside from patients suffering from various stages of neglect patients were put to work on the grounds as conditions of their “treatment” in the hopes of giving them a sense of independence. Although patient labor looks to have had good intentions the real idea was to squeeze as much work as they possibly could. patients were paid 10 dollars a month and in some cases candy and tobacco handouts(The History Of Issues,102-105).Clifford Beers a Connecticut native growing up as a sibling of 4 who would also suffer from mental illness helped to make big strides in the progression of mental health in the 1900s. With his first hospitalization in 1900 for depression and paranoia followed by experiences in both private and state facilities.(wikki) Beers experience during his period of hospitalizations gave a preface to his autobiography, “A Mind That Found Itself”. Beers book allowed him to not only tell his stories of exposure to shameful conditions but gave a voice to others through the telling
During the Nixon administration, funding was impounded and during Reagan’s administration, mental health funding was collapsed funding in order to block grants. During the period 1970-73 14 state hospitals were closed.Programs that supported deinstintuliation were the start of Community Mental Health Centers passed on a bill by the U.S Congress hoping that it would be able to be a resource regardless of one's ability to pay(The History Of Issues,132-140). The 1900s was a time of great progress in mental health reform but as the 2000s approached some of the biggest changes occurred on the basis of treatment as the idea of mental illness slowly became a less taboo subject among the population(The History Of