Influential Women in the Mental Health Field

                  March is Women’s History Month. I think it is a good time to learn about some of the women who have influenced the field of mental health. I will use a few of my remaining March posts to share the contributions of women to mental health.

                  Dorothea Dix

“Your minds may now be likened to a garden, which will, if neglected, yield only weeds and thistles; but if it is cultivated will produce the most beautiful flower and the most delicious fruits.”

                  Dorothea Dix (1802-1887) was instrumental in providing mental health care for people in the 19^thcentury.  During the mid-19^th century people with mental illness were often kept in facilities alongside violent criminals. There was little to no discrimination between how the criminals were treated and how those with mental illnesses were treated. It was a grim world for people with mental illness. They were often abused and mistreated.  Dorothea Dix spoke out and her efforts led to reform first in Massachusetts and the later in Rhode Island and New York. The reforms Dix spearheaded led to reforms throughout the United States and led to a change in the approach to mental health treatment in America. 

                  Dorothea Dix founded or expanded more than 30 hospitals for the mentally ill. She believed that people with mental illness could be cured and worked to spread this belief. She not only led efforts in the United States. Her work had an international influence. 

                  Bebe Moore Cambell

“While everyone – all colors – everyone is affected by stigma, no one wants to say, ‘I’m not in control of my mind.’  No one wants to say, ‘the person I love is not in control of [their] mind.’ But people of color really don’t want to say it because we already feel stigmatized by virtue of skin color or eye shape or accent and we don’t want any more reasons for people to say, ‘You’re not good enough.’”

 

                  Bebe Moore Cambell (1950-2006) was an author, journalist, and teacher who dedicated her life to advocating for the mental health needs of the Black community.  She founded the Inglewood-LA chapter of NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness. This chapter is now NAMI Urban Los Angeles. Cambell’s daughter lived with mental illness. Bebe Cambell was an advocate for people of color to have safe spaces to share their experiences, including their experiences with mental illness. She is responsible for improvements in how mental health is approached in underserved communities. She worked to end the stigma that is often one of the reasons for lack of mental health care and treatment in communities of color. 

                  Cambell died from cancer in 2006. As result of the efforts of her friend, Linda Wharton-Boyd and others, July was declared Bebe Moore Cambell Minority Mental Health Awareness Month. This month serves to achieve two goals: 1) improve access to mental health treatment and services and promote public awareness of mental illness and 2) enhance public awareness of mental illness among underserved communities. 

 

                  Dix and Moore Cambell are just two of the many women who have impacted the field of mental health. Next Monday I will feature two more women.