During that time, they were seen as social piranhas. People who simply had to be locked away far, far away, in a sense out of place, out of mind. People didn't know what to do with the mentally ill, so they ended up being locked up in prison mixed with other criminals. This thinking began to change, albeit with the help of people like Dorothea Dix, although it didn't happen overnight. It was a long and hard fight. After campaigns to get the mentally ill out of prisons, they were locked up in mental hospitals. Although they were out of prison, their care did not improve much. We still didn't know how to take care of them, so mistreatment occurred again. Over time, however, we began to realize and learn that just because someone was mentally ill didn't mean they needed to be locked up. Asylums began to close and good hospitals, homes and outpatient treatment facilities began to open. Today there is still a stigma attached to having a mental disorder at times, but it is nowhere near the stigma or challenges that people faced during times like when Dorothea Dix lived