Mary Overton: Dix memorial needed

Regarding the May 6 column “Don’t let Dix Hill’s patients be forgotten”: I was a student nurse in the 1950s doing a three-month psychiatric affiliation at Dix Hill.

I will never forget our initial tour of the back buildings, where the most severely ill patients were housed. Some had been there since infancy or early childhood and had reverted to fetal positions. Some had been hospitalized due to seizures, and the perception that the family was “cursed.” Treatment at the time was insulin therapy, electric shock, investigational drugs and psychiatric group/individual therapy.

Progress has been made in the treatment of mental illness since that time, but we must never forget the many Dix residents and dedicated staff who cared for them. There are so many stories that need to be shared.

Please provide space on this remarkable property for a Dorothea Dix memorial and museum.

This story was originally published May 11, 2015 at 5:15 PM with the headline "Mary Overton: Dix memorial needed."