Question

Write a paragraph about how people with mental illnesses in the 1930s were treated by people socially, use 2 quotes and cite where you got the text evidence

Answer 1

In the 1930s, individuals with mental illnesses faced significant social stigma and isolation, largely due to the pervasive misunderstanding of their conditions. Many communities viewed those with mental health challenges as dangerous or morally weak, which led to their ostracism. As historian Edward Shorter notes, "The general public regarded mental illness with fear and often contempt, seeing it as a deviation from social norms" (Shorter, 1997). This societal prejudice was compounded by a lack of awareness about mental health, resulting in individuals being confined to institutions or rejected by their families. As mental health advocate E. Fuller Torrey points out, "People were often hidden away out of sight, treated like pariahs or even criminals" (Torrey, 2008). The combination of fear and ignorance left many suffering individuals without the support they desperately needed, reinforcing the cycle of stigma and misunderstanding that persisted throughout the era.

**Citations:**
- Shorter, Edward. *A History of Psychiatry: From the Era of the Asylum to the Age of Prozac*. John Wiley & Sons, 1997.
- Torrey, E. Fuller. *The Insanity Offense: How America's Failure to Treat the Seriously Mentally Ill Endangers Its Citizens*. Palgrave Macmillan, 2008.