Journal of Sacred Work

Caregivers have superpowers! Radical Loving Care illuminates the divine truth that caregiving is not just a job. It is Sacred Work.

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Former President and CEO of multiple hospital systems and founding president/CEO of 20-hospital OhioHealth, best selling author, film artist, ordained minister, composer, published poet, syndicated T.V. host, trial attorney, federal prosecutor and Municipal Court Judge. Erie is internationally known as the founder of the Radical Loving Care(R)movement. He also heads Erie Chapman Foundation, Dane Dakota Productions, LLC, and Chapman Health International, Inc.

Recent Posts

About

Former President and CEO of multiple hospital systems and founding president/CEO of 20-hospital OhioHealth, best selling author, film artist, ordained minister, composer, published poet, syndicated T.V. host, trial attorney, federal prosecutor and Municipal Court Judge. Erie is internationally known as the founder of the Radical Loving Care(R)movement. He also heads Erie Chapman Foundation, Dane Dakota Productions, LLC, and Chapman Health International, Inc.

Days 94-95 Woman With A Golden Thread

"In a world where there is so much to be done, I felt strongly impressed that there must be something for me to do." – Dorothea Dix

   It is difficult for us to imagine the astounding cruelty with which the mentally ill were treated across most of the 18th and 19th centuries.

   "Lunatics" were, according to Dorothea Dix, "…confined…in cages, stalls pens! Chained, naked, beaten with rods, and lashed into obedience."

   Against the predictable tide of skepticism and resistance one woman, initially almost alone, led the effort to reform the treatment of "Insane Persons" in both America and Great Britain. It took her sixty years to make a dent.

   A bill passed by Congress in 1854  proposed to set aside millions of acres on which treatment facilities would be built. President Franklin Pierce vetoed it. It took an astonishing eight more decades before President Franklin Roosevelt implemented meaningful social welfare legislation.

   Meanwhile, Dix met with some success at the state level in North Carolina, Illinois and Pennsylvania. She stands as a shining example of caregivers who let Love travel through them to meet and heal the most appalling kinds of need. 

   At the moment they accept their calling, every caregiver is handed an invisible Golden Thread of healing. The Thead was created by the first caregiver and is passed along to us. We can carry the legacy of this thread or we can, by our apathy or hostility, break it.

   Dorothea Dix allowed all the power of the thread to pass through her across her long and powerful career. We need to remember her. And we need to reflect on the millions of the poor who, to this day, face persecution around the world simply because they are mentally ill.

-Erie Chapman

 

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4 responses to “Days 94-95 Woman With A Golden Thread”

  1. ~liz Wessel Avatar
    ~liz Wessel

    Thank you for highlighting the enormous advocacy efforts of Dorothea Dix. Also, I was not aware of the history of mental health legislature in our country.
    I was 17 when I obtained my first healthcare job as a psychiatric aide At the Brattleboro Retreat in Vermont. It was an invaluable experience. Sadly, there were some longtime residents who had spent their entire lives institutionalized. I was shocked to discover that years prior some had succumbed to the primitive and inhumane treatment of a lobotomy. Wow what a solution, eh?
    I recall in the early 80’s when all the mental health facilities closed. Suddenly, there were so many homeless people on the streets. It really left an indelible mark of our societies collective inhumanity. Mental Health services are sorely lacking in our country. Unfortunately, when the funding went away so did most programs and there is a big gap in available services for people in need. In our region St. Joseph Hospital still has an inpatient treatment center and is one of the few in our local community.
    Thank you for carrying forward the Golden Thread of Dorothea Dix and for offering heightened awareness of this great need, Erie.

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  2. Bobbye Terry Avatar
    Bobbye Terry

    Thank you for mentioning this, Erie. Just as Liz mentioned, my career also started in a psychiatric institution, a state psychiatric hospital, as a student social worker. To my horror, many had been there since birth because their mothers had been confined for mental illness. Those people, who had not been in any way mentally challenged, became so after years of conditioning. I worked with the Geriatric population there, and discovered atrocities where children had their elderly loved ones committed when all that was wrong with them was Alzheimer’s. Many of those elderly had money that was being shielded from the state by the greedy children, in hopes mom or dad would pass away in forgotten silence and they could benefit from the hidden stash. One time I had the proof, given to me by a resident(she had a letter from the bank in her pocket) and if she hadn’t trusted me she would have never gotten out.
    My experiences at this facility spurred me on to my career, and I thank you for the opportunity to share this.
    Bobbye

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  3. erie chapman Avatar
    erie chapman

    Thank you, Liz. And CONGRATULATIONS on your courage and commitment, Bobbye. You are great to share this story! Thank you for your efforts on behalf of those in deep need in so many different areas.

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  4. Cheri Cancelliere Avatar
    Cheri Cancelliere

    Thank you Erie, Liz and Bobbye, for sharing the story of Dorothea’s great courage and compassion and your own experiences of society’s lack of understanding for the mentally ill. I was fortunate to work for Dr. Fred Gross at his Christian Therapy Program for many years. He was one of the first to recognize the importance of treating spiritual needs as well as the physical and emotional. Also, he understood the reluctance of people of faith to seek medical help beyond prayer, and brought the stigma of addiction and mental illness into God’s healing light. There is still much room for education and love in this area. Our extended lifespans have made dementia ever more common. For those of us who care for elderly parents or patients, this is a true exercise in radical loving care. I carry the Golden Thread with honor, knowing whatever I do for the “least of the brethren” I am doing out of love for my God.

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