At that time, they were considered social piranhas. People who just had to be locked away very, very far away, in a sense out of site, out of sense. People didn't know what to do with the mentally ill, so they ended up being sent to prison, mixed in with the other criminals. This thinking began to change with the help of people like Dorothea Dix, although it didn't happen overnight. It was a long and hard struggle. After campaigns to get the mentally ill out of prisons, they were placed in asylums. Although they were released from prison, their care did not improve much. We still didn't know how to take care of them and the abuse happened again. Over time, however, we began to realize and learn that just because someone had a mental illness does not mean they should be locked up. Asylums began to close and metal hospitals, homes and outpatient treatment in good conditions began to open. Today, there is still sometimes a stigma attached to having a mental disorder, but it is nowhere near the stigma or challenges people faced in eras like Dorothea Dix.