the mentally ill were sharing jail cells with criminals and basically being treated like criminals, in some cases worse, even though they really weren't. Thus it was believed that the mentally ill could be treated without sharing a jail cell with a criminal. This resulted in the creation of state operated hospitals, where the states took responsibility for the mentally ill. During the civil war though there were other concerns which didn't involve the mentally ill, which meant that they never got the treatment they deserved and weren't really the states first priorities on the "to do list". So state hospitals were being overcrowded with the mentally ill who were really just taking up space. After WWII the first concept of deinstituionalization came about by psychiatrists returning from the war. They wanted to prepare the patients to return to communities and to be treated in wards where active treatment programs were to begin for all patients. This movement resulted in patient declines in state hospitals, which was a good thing at the moment. Community based care became even more popular with the introduction of a new medication (at the time) chlorpromazine, which had the effects of reversing the symptoms of psychosis. For about a decade or so the deinstituionalization idea had become a pretty well working concept, so it was thought since things were looking good, all patients should be treated in the community and that state hospitals should be closed and in place open outpatient clinics in every area of the country. Soon it became clear that patients could be cared for at less expense, with the possibility of better results, and with greater independence. So each state made it a goal to reduce state hospital populations and the closure of these facilities. Soon enough questions were starting to be asked if the mentally ill were really better off now before the depopulation of state hospitals.