What is the history of mental health treatment?
But it was in Paris, in 1792, where one of the most important reforms in the treatment of mental health took place.
How has addiction treatment evolved over time?
Problematic use of substances was observed as early as the 17th century. 1 The evolution of addiction treatment, from the mid-18th century to the present, is outlined below. Several pioneers of treatment during these times contributed to a rich body of scientific knowledge that continues to influence our understanding of addiction today.
What is the history of acupuncture in addiction treatment?
Lincoln Recovery was initially an outpatient treatment center in the 1970s that used methadone. In 1973-74, a community-based demand for natural, non-pharmaceutical treatments for heroin and opioid addiction spurred the use of acupuncture in the clinic.
How were the mentally ill treated in the past?
For much of history, the mentally ill have been treated very poorly. It was believed that mental illness was caused by demonic possession, witchcraft, or an angry god (Szasz, 1960). For example, in medieval times, abnormal behaviors were viewed as a sign that a person was possessed by demons.
When did medication for mental health start?
History. Several significant psychiatric drugs were developed in the mid-20th century. In 1948, lithium was first used as a psychiatric medicine. One of the most important discoveries was chlorpromazine, an antipsychotic that was first given to a patient in 1952.
When was therapy first introduced?
Purposeful, theoretically based psychotherapy was probably first developed in the Middle East during the 9th century by the Persian physician and psychological thinker, Rhazes, who was at one time the chief physician of the Baghdad bimaristan.
How was mental health treated in the 1970s?
In the treatment of mental disorders, the 1970s was a decade of increasing refinement and specificity of existing treatments. There was increasing focus on the negative effects of various treatments, such as deinstitutionalization, and a stronger scientific basis for some treatments emerged.
Was there therapy in the 1800s?
Drugs had been used in treating the mentally ill as far back as the mid-1800s. Their purpose then was to sedate patients to keep overcrowded asylums more manageable, a kind of chemical restraint to replace the physical restraints of earlier years.
When was psychology invented?
Psychology as a field of experimental study began in 1854 in Leipzig, Germany when Gustav Fechner created the first theory of how judgments about sensory experiences are made and how to experiment on them.
How was mental health treated in the 1900s?
The use of social isolation through psychiatric hospitals and “insane asylums,” as they were known in the early 1900s, were used as punishment for people with mental illnesses.
How was mental health treated in the 1960s?
In the 1960s, social revolution brought about major changes for mental health care including a reduction in hospital beds, the growth of community services, improved pharmacological and psychological interventions and the rise of patient activism.
How was mental health treated in the 1950s?
Although hydrotherapy, metrazol convulsion, and insulin shock therapy were popular in the 1930s, these methods gave way to psychotherapy in the 1940s. By the 1950s, doctors favored artificial fever therapy and electroshock therapy.
When was psychosurgery first used?
Psychosurgery. One of the most infamous chapters in the history of mental health treatments was psychosurgery. First developed in the 1930s, a patient would be put into a coma, after which a doctor would hammer a medical instrument (similar to an icepick) through the top of both eye sockets.
Where did the first mental health reform take place?
But it was in Paris, in 1792, where one of the most important reforms in the treatment of mental health took place. Science Museum calls Pinel “the founder of moral treatment,” which it describes as “the cornerstone of mental health care in the 1800s.” 9,10 Pinel developed a hypothesis that mentally unhealthy patients needed care and kindness in order for their conditions to improve; to that effect, he took ownership of the famous Hospice de Bicêtre, located in the southern suburbs of Paris. He ordered that the facility be cleaned, patients be unchained and put in rooms with sunlight, allowed to exercise freely within hospital grounds, and that their quality of care be improved.
What did Freud do to help people with mental health problems?
Mainstream psychology may not have thought much of psychoanalysis, but the attention Freud’s work received opened other doors of mental health treatment, such as psychosurgery, electroconvulsive therapy, and psychopharmacology. These treatments originated from the biological model of mental illness, which put forward that mental health problems were caused by biochemical imbalances in the body (an evolution of the “four humors” theory) and needed to be treated like physical diseases; hence, for example, psychosurgery (surgery on the brain) to treat the symptoms of a mental health imbalance.
How did Freud use dream analysis?
Part of Freud’s approach involved dream analysis, which encouraged patients to keep a journal of what their unconscious mind was trying to tell them through their dreams. The psychiatrist would study the contents of the journal, discerning messages and patterns that would unlock the mental illness. Remnants of his methodology are found in how the cognitive behavioral therapists of today engage in “talk therapy” with their clients, encouraging them to keep journals of their thoughts and feelings, and then devising a treatment plan based on the subtext of what is written.
What is the most common medication for depression?
As lithium became the standard for mental health treatment, other drugs like chlorpromazine (better known as Thorazine), Valium and Prozac became household names during the middle and latter decades of the 20th century, becoming some of the most prescribed drugs for depression across the world.
What is the oldest medical book?
Two papyri, dated as far back as the 6th century BCE, have been called “the oldest medical books in the world,” for being among the first such documents to have identified the brain as the source of mental functioning (as well as covering other topics like how to treat wounds and perform basic surgery). 4.
What were the causes of mental illness in ancient times?
Ancient theories about mental illness were often the result of beliefs that supernatural causes, such as demonic possession, curses, sorcery, or a vengeful god, were behind the strange symptoms. Remedies, therefore, ran the gamut from the mystical to the brutal.
Trephination
Trephination dates back to the earliest days in the history of mental illness treatments. It is the process of removing a small part of the skull using an auger, bore, or saw. This practice began around 7,000 years ago, likely to relieve headaches, mental illness, and even the belief of demonic possession.
Bloodletting and Purging
Though this treatment gained prominence in the Western world beginning in the 1600s, it has roots in ancient Greek medicine. Claudius Galen believed that disease and illness stemmed from imbalanced humors in the body. English physician Thomas Willis used Galen’s writings as a basis for this approach to treating mentally ill patients.
Isolation and Asylums
Isolation was the preferred treatment for mental illness beginning in medieval times, which may explain why mental asylums became widespread by the 17th century.
Insulin Coma Therapy
This treatment was introduced in 1927 and continued until the 1960s. In insulin coma therapy, physicians deliberately put the patient into a low blood sugar coma because they believed large fluctuations in insulin levels could alter how the brain functioned. Insulin comas could last one to four hours.
Metrazol Therapy
In metrazol therapy, physicians introduced seizures using a stimulant medication. Seizures began roughly a minute after the patient received the injection and could result in fractured bones, torn muscles, and other adverse effects. The therapy was usually administered several times a week. Metrazol was withdrawn from use by the FDA in 1982.
Lobotomy
This now-obsolete treatment won the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine in 1949. It was designed to disrupt the circuits of the brain but came with serious risks. Popular during the 1940s and 1950s, lobotomies were always controversial and prescribed in psychiatric cases deemed severe.
What drugs were made in 1970?
The Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970 make stimulants, such as Ritalin (methylphenidate), Schedule III medications and then Schedule II medications in 1971. 4 .
When was the first study of ADHD?
Joseph Biederman publishes one of the first of hundreds of medical studies about children with ADHD in 1995. An updated AAP report, Medication for Children With Attention Disorders, published in 1996, stresses that drug therapy should be combined 'with appropriate management of the child's environment and curriculum.'.
When was hyperkinetic impulse disorder first used?
Hyperkinetic impulse disorder is first used to describe children with ADHD symptoms in 1957. C. Keith Conners publishes a study on the effects of Ritalin (methylphenidate) in 'emotionally disturbed children' in 1963. 3 . In 1966, minimal brain dysfunction syndrome becomes a popular term to describe kids with 'various combinations ...
What are the three subtypes of ADHD?
They didn't always call it ADHD, though, and used terms like: It has been known as ADHD since 1987 and is further divided into three subtypes: inattentive type, hyperactive/impulsive type, and the combined type.
What drugs are used for ADHD?
A 1987 report from the AAP, Medication for Children With an Attention Deficit Disorder, offers 'indications for drug therapy in the treatment of attention deficit disorder,' such as Ritalin, Dexedrine, Cylert, and 'other potentially useful drugs,' including tricyclic antidepressants. Dr. Barkley begins publishing The ADHD Report newsletter in 1993.
What is the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders?
The fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV-TR) is published by the APA in 2000 and describes three types of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), including ADHD, Combined Type, ADHD, Predominantly Inattentive Type, and ADHD, Predominantly Hyperactive-Impulsive Type.
When was the first book about ADHD written?
Dr. Russell A. Barkley writes his first of 17 books about ADHD in 1981 - Hyperactive Children: A Handbook for Diagnosis and Treatment. The DSM-III-R (revised edition), published in 1987, again changes the name, this time to Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), but doesn't include any subtypes.
How many shock treatments were given in 1943?
Electroshock treatment was also used, and the way the treatment was administered often broke patients’ backs; in 1943, doctors at Willard administered 1,443 shock treatments (Willard Psychiatric Center, 2009).
How long does a psychiatric hospital stay?
In all types of hospitals, the emphasis is on short-term stays, with the average length of stay being less than two weeks and often only a few days.
What were the mental health problems in the Middle Ages?
1. Beginning in the Middle Ages and up until the mid-20th century, the mentally ill were misunderstood and treated cruelly. In the 1700s, Philippe Pinel advocated for patients to be unchained, and he was able to affect this in a Paris hospital. In the 1800s, Dorothea Dix urged the government to provide better funded and regulated care, which led to the creation of asylums, but treatment generally remained quite poor. Federally mandated deinstitutionalization in the 1960s began the elimination of asylums, but it was often inadequate in providing the infrastructure for replacement treatment.
What was the purpose of asylums in the 1960s?
It was once believed that people with psychological disorders, or those exhibiting strange behavior, were possessed by demons. These people were forced to take part in exorcisms, were imprisoned, or executed. Later, asylums were built to house the mentally ill, but the patients received little to no treatment, and many of the methods used were cruel. Philippe Pinel and Dorothea Dix argued for more humane treatment of people with psychological disorders. In the mid-1960s, the deinstitutionalization movement gained support and asylums were closed, enabling people with mental illness to return home and receive treatment in their own communities. Some did go to their family homes, but many became homeless due to a lack of resources and support mechanisms.
What funding sources do mental health providers use?
A range of funding sources pay for mental health treatment: health insurance, government, and private pay. In the past, even when people had health insurance, the coverage would not always pay for mental health services.
How many prisoners report having psychological distress?
Additionally, in the month prior to the study, 14% of state and federal prisoners and 26% of jail inmates reported having experiences indicating serious psychological distress, such as frequent depression and anxiety.
Who was the artist who ordered the removal of chains from patients at the Salpêtrière asylum in Paris?
This painting by Tony Robert-Fleury depicts Dr. Philippe Pinel ordering the removal of chains from patients at the Salpêtrière asylum in Paris. In the 19th century, Dorothea Dix led reform efforts for mental health care in the United States.
Mental Health Treatment in Ancient Times
The Oldest Medical Books in The World
The Four Humors
- Charles B. Towns Hospital opens (1901). Charles Towns, in collaboration with Dr. Alexander Lambert (Theodore Roosevelt’s personal physician), opened this New York City substance abuse hospital in 1...
- Emmanuel Clinic in Boston begins lay therapy for treatment of alcoholism (1906). The Emmanuel movement was a church-based form of psychotherapy to heal addictions with a c…
- Charles B. Towns Hospital opens (1901). Charles Towns, in collaboration with Dr. Alexander Lambert (Theodore Roosevelt’s personal physician), opened this New York City substance abuse hospital in 1...
- Emmanuel Clinic in Boston begins lay therapy for treatment of alcoholism (1906). The Emmanuel movement was a church-based form of psychotherapy to heal addictions with a combination of spirituality...
- Passage of state laws that call for the sterilization of the mentally ill, developmentally disabled, and alcoholics and addicts (1910s). Legislation granted the medical supervisors of asylums and p...
- Morphine maintenance clinics created (1919-1924). Communities established morphine mai…
Caring For The Mentally Ill
from Workhouses to Asylums
The Roots of Reform
Moral Treatment
- When violence wasn’t used, priest-doctors (like those in ancient Mesopotamia) would use rituals based on religion and superstition since they believed that demonic possession was the reason behind mental disturbances. Such rituals would include prayer, atonement, exorcisms, incantations, and other forms of tribalistic expressions of spirituality. However, shamans would …
Moving Away from Moral Treatment
- Astandard belief across many of those ancient cultures was that mental illness was seen as a supernatural in origin, usually the result of an angry god (or goddess). In an attempt to attribute this to an understandable cause, people of those civilizations believed that a victim or a group of people had somehow trespassed against their deity and were being punished as a result. It took …
Sigmund Freud
- Typically, the patient’s family was responsible for custody and care of the patient. Outside interventions and facilities for residential treatment were rare; it wasn’t until 792 CE in Baghdad that the first mental hospital was founded.7 In Europe, however, family having custody of mentally ill patients was for a long time seen as a source of shame and humiliation; many families resort…
The Rise and Fall of Electroconvulsive Therapy
- However, there were some options for treatment beyond the limitations of family care (or custody). These including putting up the mentally unhealthy in workhouses, a public institution where the poorest people in a church parish were given basic room and board in return for work. Others were checked into general hospitals, but they were often abandoned and ignored. Clergy i…