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Alexander Morison Lectures on Mental Disease
One of the first formal lectures in American institutions on psychiatry this marked a beginning to the study of the mind in the United States. The 1800s would see a great increase in public interest in the field of not only medicine but also in studying the mind. -
Worcester State Hospital is established in Massachusetts
The first mental illness hospital in the United States was founded in Massachusetts. Before this time families would pay out of pocket for mental illness treatment for their family members or they would ignore mental illness entirely. -
Dorothea Dix reveals unhygienic practices and abuse
Dorothea Lynde Dix was a young writer-activist who visited many prisons and mental illness hospitals detailing accounts of brutality and a disregard for hygiene.
This led to public outrage and a call for better regulation of rehabilitation programs. -
American Psychiatric Association is Founded
Famous for its publication of the DSM this organization marked a important moment in medical history of consolidating medical knowledge, the first organization in American history to do so! -
Nellie Bly Goes Undercover as a Mentally-Ill Person
As an investigative journalist Nellie Bly discredited a huge swath of the psychiatric hospital organization by being acting as a mentally-ill individual and being admitted and held there. This revelation showed that while the medical community was getting the limelight all throughout the 19th century much of it was unearned and needed to advance.