Psychiatric Hospitals In America

For centuries, psychiatric hospitals have been used in America as an approach to control the mentally ill. As a matter of fact, “psychiatric hospitals, also known as mental hospitals and mental asylums, are hospital or wards specializing in the treatment of serious psychiatric illnesses” (“Psychiatric Hospitals”). Although the very first psychiatric hospital in the world was opened in 705 AD by Muslims in Baghdad, the first in America was not established until the late 18th century. These hospitals served as places of refuge for the mentally ill since their beginning. With that being said, some asylums were known to treat their patients poorly which brought forth major criticism in later years. Ultimately, the history of psychiatric hospitals is one of great turmoil in the United States. Initially, general hospitals included psychiatric “sections” in which patients with mental illnesses were
treated, but hospitals with the sole intention of treating psychological disorders were not developed until a few decades later. Historically, it’s believed that Quakers were the first to establish hospitals with psychiatric wards included within them:
In 1751, when Quakers and other community leaders in Philadelphia had petitioned the Pennsylvania colonial assembly for funds to build the Hospital, the first in the colonies, they had told of medical care that could help restore sanity to the mad mind”
(Whitaker 3).
It wasn’t until 1773 that the first individual psychiatric hospital was established. “The nation’s first two psychiatric hospitals opened in the late 1700s. Eastern State Hospital in Williamsburg, VA., opened Oct. 12, 1773 and is still operational today…The nation’s second psychiatric hospital, Spring Grove Hospital, opened in Baltimore in 1798” (Harvey 1). In the 19th century, America saw an incredible increase in the number of mental hospitals nationwide. In part, this was due to the fact that citizens who were handicapped with psychological diseases were more often than not placed in correctional facilities. During their imprisonment, these people were typically mistreated, which caused more authoritative figures to take a stand for the mentally ill and push for better conditions. One of the most prominent figures who advocated for new regulations in caring for people with mental illnesses was Dorothea Dix. Apparently, “in the 1840s, activist Dorothea Dix lobbied for better living conditions for the mentally ill after witnessing the dangerous and unhealthy conditions in which many patients lived over a 40-year period, Dix successfully persuaded the U.S. government to fund the building of 32 state psychiatric hospitals” (“A Brief History of Mental Illnesses and the U.S. Mental Health Care System). The 20th century, is perhaps a turning point for psychiatric hospitals, as many major developments occurred.
Prior to the 1950s, patients were mainly treated through lobotomies which usually left the patients severely impaired—or as “vegetables,” as they were dubbed. However, the 50s brought forth new drugs that were more effective than lobotomies, such as Thorazine, for instance (Harvey 3). The introduction of new psychiatric drugs caused people to believe that mental illnesses could be cured, which resulted in an influx of patients being admitted into psychiatric hospitals. As a matter of fact, by 1955, 560,000 patients were in state mental facilities (Harvey 4). Additionally, John F. Kennedy played a pivotal role in reforming mental health facilities, as he signed the Community Mental Health Centers Act of 1963, which gave psychiatric hospitals $150 million (Harvey 5). Despite Kennedy’s efforts, they were seemingly “cancelled out” by Ronald Reagan who instituted an array of budget cuts which was detrimental for the mental institutes, as they lost much of their
money. In the late 1900s, the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill was founded. This group was extremely beneficial for psychiatric hospitals because it assisted in funding for research—especially for illnesses like schizophrenia and depression. Essentially, new research meant even greater developments in psychiatric drugs in mental institutes.
Despite the improvements of the 20th century, psychiatric hospitals faced major obstacles regarding overpopulation at this time. With the new developments in these institutes, prisoners recognized that they would presumably live under better conditions in a psych ward than a prison. Due to this realization, large amounts of criminals attributed their crimes to the fact that they were mentally unstable and, therefore, were placed in mental institutes, leading to crowding.
In the 2000s, awareness for mental illnesses increased, which resulted in better conditions in psychiatric hospitals. As a matter of fact, several laws in the United States were passed to ensure that people struggling with mental illnesses received proper treatment. For instance, these laws granted the mentally ill the option to stay in facilities for much shorter periods of time for intensive treatment until they felt they could continue with their life outside of hospitals.
Overall, psychiatric hospitals in America were initially used as a way to “tame” those with mentally ill. Despite some barbaric treatments practiced by mental institutes—like lobotomies—widespread criticism from people like Dorothea Dix encouraged reforms in the mental health system. Eventually, these mental institutes became sanctuaries in which people living with psychiatric diseases could seek treatment.