) what were prehistoric beliefs about treatment for the mentally ill?

Treatment by cave dwellers included a technique called trephination, in which a stone instrument known as a trephine was used to remove part of the skull, creating an opening. They believed that evil spirits could escape through the hole in the skull, thereby ending the person’s mental affliction and returning them to normal behavior.

Full Answer

How were the mentally ill treated in the 13th century?

Trephination is an example of the earliest supernatural explanation for mental illness. Treatment by cave dwellers used a technique called trephination, in which a stone instrument known as a trephine was used to remove part of the skull, creating an opening. Through it, the evil spirits could escape thereby ending the person’s mental affliction and returning them to normal …

What did ancient people think about mental health?

 · In prehistoric times mental illnesses were thought to be caused by magical beings interfering with the mind. Different tribes etc had their own rituals to get rid off the bad spirits from the body including exorcisms and sometimes a surgical method called trepanation (on the photo below you can see the prehistoric rectangular incision in the skull).

How did past societies view and deal with mental illness?

 · They believed that evil spirits could escape through the hole in the skull, thereby ending the person’s mental affliction and returning them to normal behavior.

What is the history of mental illness treatment?

 · During the Early Medieval Ages people still believed that the fluids (mentioned above) were the ones that caused mental illness, and in order to bring balance back to the body, patients were given laxatives, emetics, and were bled using cupping or leeches.

How were the mentally ill treated in ancient times?

The earliest known record of mental illness in ancient China dates back to 1100 B.C. Mental disorders were treated mainly under Traditional Chinese Medicine using herbs, acupuncture or "emotional therapy".

How did the ancient Greeks treat the mentally ill?

Mental illness in society "The ancient Greeks first gave voice to the concept of stigma noting that those who were marked with mental illness were often shunned, locked up, or on rare occasions put to death." People with diseases that altered behavior were often shunned and feared by those around them.

Which of the following was a historical treatment for mental illness?

Trephination. Trephination dates back to the earliest days in the history of mental illness treatments.

What are the historical views on mental health?

The prevailing views of early recorded history posited that mental illness was the product of supernatural forces and demonic possession, and this often led to primitive treatment practices such as trepanning in an effort to release the offending spirit.

Who cared for the mentally ill in ancient times?

Mentally ill individuals were cared for at home by family members and the state shared no responsibility for their care. Humorism remained a recurrent somatogenic theory up until the 19th century.

What was the ancient Greek philosophy on physical and mental health?

The ancient Greeks believed that mental and physical health were interrelated as they had found that the body and mind should be in harmony.

How mental health care has changed from the historical approach through to how care is now provided in the community?

Mental health has been transformed over the last seventy years. There have been so many changes: the closure of the old asylums; moving care into the community; the increasing the use of talking therapies. They have all had a hugely positive impact on patients and mental health care.

How were mentally ill patients treated in the 1800s?

In early 19th century America, care for the mentally ill was almost non-existent: the afflicted were usually relegated to prisons, almshouses, or inadequate supervision by families. Treatment, if provided, paralleled other medical treatments of the time, including bloodletting and purgatives.

How were mentally ill patients treated in the 1950s?

The use of certain treatments for mental illness changed with every medical advance. 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 did the stigma of mental illness begin?

A scientific concept on the stigma of mental disorders was first developed in the middle of the 20th century, first theoretically and eventually empirically in the 1970s.

How was mental illness treated in the 1700s?

In the 18th century, some believed that mental illness was a moral issue that could be treated through humane care and instilling moral discipline. Strategies included hospitalization, isolation, and discussion about an individual's wrong beliefs.

What are the theories of mental illness?

There are several mental health theories, but they all come from one of five schools of thought. They are behaviorism, biological, psychodynamic, cognitive, and humanistic.

Why did the Egyptians recommend that people with mental illness participate in recreational activities?

Similarly, the Egyptians recommended that those stricken with mental illness should participate in “recreational activities” in order to relieve symptoms which displayed that, as a civilization, the Egyptians were very advanced in their treatment of mental handicaps. (Foerschner)

When did mental illness start?

The history of treating mental illnesses dates as far back as 5000 B.C.E. with the evidence of “trephined skulls.”. In the ancient world cultures, a well-known belief was that mental illness was “the result of supernatural phenomena”; this included phenomena from “demonic possession” to “sorcery” and “the evil eye”.

Why did people with psychological disorders go to workhouses?

In the early 15 th century many of those afflicted with psychological disorders were placed in workhouses, madhouses, or asylums because it was too burdensome for the families to care for them.

What did Hippocrates do to restore the body's balance?

In order to restore the body’s balance, the Greeks used techniques such as phlebotomies, bloodletting, purging, and imposing diets on the afflicted (Foerschner).One treatment that Hippocrates advocated was changing the occupation and/or environment of the patient.

Why did the Persians practice cleanliness?

Although ancient Persians also believed that the illnesses were caused by demons, they practiced precautionary measures such as personal hygiene and “purity of the mind and body” in order to “prevent and protect one from diseases”.

How did demonic possession heal?

The most commonly believed cause, demonic possession, was treated by chipping a hole, or “trephine”, into the skull of the patient by which “the evil spirits would be released,” therefore healing the patient.

What was the first non-sedative drug?

The first non-sedative drug used in the treatment of patients was chlorpromazine which “cured” many mental ailments and patients “became free of symptoms entirely and returned to functional lives” (Drake).

What was Hippocrates' view on mental illness?

Hippocrates believed mental illnesses could be treated as any other disorder and focused on the underlying pathology.

What are the beliefs of prehistoric cultures?

Prehistoric cultures often held a supernatural view of abnormal behavior and saw it as the work of evil spirits, demons, gods, or witches who took control of the person.

What is the treatment of evil spirits called?

Early Greek, Hebrew, Egyptian, and Chinese cultures used a treatment method called exorcism in which evil spirits were cast out through prayer, magic, flogging, starvation, noise-making, or having the person ingest horrible tasting drinks.

Who published A Mind That Found Itself?

Her efforts even extended beyond the U.S. to Canada and Scotland. Finally, in 1908 Clifford Beers (1876-1943) published his book, A Mind that Found Itself, in which he described his personal struggle with bipolar disorder and the “cruel and inhumane treatment people with mental illnesses received.

Who was the leader of the moral treatment movement?

Another leader in the moral treatment movement was Dorothea Dix (1802-1887), a New Englander who observed the deplorable conditions suffered by the mentally ill while teaching Sunday school to female prisoners. She instigated the mental hygiene movement, which focused on the physical well-being of patients.

Why did asylums become habitable places?

Due to the rise of the moral treatment movement in both Europe and the United States, asylums became habitable places where those afflicted with mental illness could recover. However, it is often said that the moral treatment movement was a victim of its own success.

What was the purpose of the Bethlem Hospital?

In 1547, the Bethlem Hospital opened in London with the sole purpose of confining those with mental disorders.

What did Hippocrates believe about mental illness?

It was around 400 BC that Hippocrates (460–370 BC) attempted to separate superstition and religion from medicine by systematizing the belief that a deficiency in or especially an excess of one of the four essential bodily fluids (i.e., humors)—blood, yellow bile, black bile, and phlegm—was responsible for physical and mental illness. For example, someone who was too temperamental suffered from too much blood and thus blood-letting would be the necessary treatment. Hippocrates classified mental illness into one of four categories—epilepsy, mania, melancholia, and brain fever—and like other prominent physicians and philosophers of his time, he did not believe mental illness was shameful or that mentally ill individuals should be held accountable for their behavior. Mentally ill individuals were cared for at home by family members and the state shared no responsibility for their care. Humorism remained a recurrent somatogenic theory up until the 19th century.

What is the earliest supernatural explanation of mental illness?

Trephination , as a treatment, is an example of possibly the earliest supernatural explanation for mental illness (Figure 2). Examination of prehistoric skulls and cave art from as early as 6500 BC has identified surgical drilling of holes in skulls to treat head injuries and epilepsy as well as to allow the evil spirits trapped within the skull, that were presumed to be causing the symptoms of mental disorder, to be released (Restak, 2000). Trephination ultimately fell out of favor as a treatment for psychological disorders.

Who tried to convince people that witches were actually women with mental illnesses?

Johann Weyer and Reginald Scot tried to convince people in the mid-to late-16th century that accused witches were actually women with mental illnesses and that mental illness was not due to demonic possession but to faulty metabolism and disease, but the Church’s Inquisition banned both of their writings.

What was the impact of the Middle Ages on the Catholic Church?

By the late Middle Ages, economic and political turmoil threatened the power of the Roman Catholic Church. Between the 11th and 15th centuries, supernatural theories of mental disorders again dominated Europe, fueled by natural disasters like plagues and famines that laypeople interpreted as brought about by the devil.

What did the Egyptians do to the uterus?

Mesopotamian and Egyptian papyri from 1900 BC describe women suffering from mental illness resulting from a wandering uterus (later named hysteria by the Greeks): the uterus could become dislodged and attached to parts of the body like the liver or chest cavity, preventing their proper functioning or producing varied and sometimes painful symptoms. As a result, the Egyptians, and later the Greeks, also employed a somatogenic treatment of strong-smelling substances to guide the uterus back to its proper location (pleasant odors to lure and unpleasant ones to dispel).

When was trephination first used?

Evidence of the ancient practice of trephination. Around 2700 BC, Chinese medicine’s concept of complementary positive and negative bodily forces (yin and yang) attributed mental (and physical) illness to an imbalance between these forces. As such, a harmonious life that allowed for the proper balance of yin and yang and movement ...

What is the difference between etiological and psychogenic theories?

Psychogenic theories focus on traumatic or stressful experiences , maladaptive learned associations, and cognitions, or distorted perceptions . Etiological theories of mental illness determine the care and treatment mentally ill individuals receive. As we will see below, an individual believed to be possessed by the devil will be viewed ...

What was Hippocrates' view on mental illness?

Hippocrates believed mental illnesses could be treated as any other disorder and focused on the underlying pathology.

What was the purpose of the mental hospitals?

Such institutions’ mission was to house and confine the mentally ill, the poor, the homeless, the unemployed, and the criminal. War and economic depression produced vast numbers of undesirables and these were separated from society and sent to these institutions. Two of the most well-known institutions, St. Mary of Bethlehem in London, known as Bedlam, a term that today means “ a state of uproar and confusion ”, and the Hôpital Général of Paris—which included La Salpêtrière, La Pitié, and La Bicêtre —began housing mentally ill patients in the mid-16th and 17th centuries. As confinement laws focused on protecting the public from the mentally ill, governments became responsible for housing and feeding undesirables in exchange for their personal liberty. Hospitals and monasteries were converted into asylums. Though the intent was benign in the beginning, as they began to overflow patients came to be treated more like animals than people. Most inmates were institutionalized against their will, lived in filth and chained to walls, and were commonly exhibited to the public for a fee. Mental illness was nonetheless viewed somatogenically, so treatments were similar to those for physical illnesses: purges, bleedings, and emetics.

When did moral treatment start?

The rise of the moral treatment movement occurred in Europe in the late 18th century and then in the United States in the early 19th century. By the 18th century, protests rose over the conditions under which the mentally ill lived, and the 18th and 19th centuries saw the growth of a more humanitarian view of mental illness. In 1785 Italian physician Vincenzo Chiarughi (1759–1820) removed the chains of patients at his St. Boniface hospital in Florence, Italy, and encouraged good hygiene and recreational and occupational training. More well known, French physician Philippe Pinel (1745–1826) and former patient Jean-Baptise Pussin created a “traitement moral” ( Moral treatment) at La Bicêtre and the Salpêtrière in 1793 and 1795 that also included unshackling patients, moving them to well-aired, well-lit rooms, and encouraging purposeful activity and freedom to move about the grounds (Micale, 1985), stressing affording the mentally ill respect, moral guidance, and humane treatment, all while considering their individual, social, and occupational needs.

What was the most significant development in the realm of philosophy during the Renaissance?

The most noteworthy development in the realm of philosophy during the Renaissance was the rise of humanism, or the worldview that emphasizes human welfare and the uniqueness of the individual. This helped continue the decline of supernatural views of mental illness.

What were the methods used to rid the Devil of his influence?

Mental illness was yet again explained as possession by the Devil and methods such as exorcism, flogging, prayer, the touching of relics, chanting, visiting holy sites, and holy water were used to rid the person of his influence. In extreme cases, the afflicted were exposed to confinement, beatings, and even execution.

How did the Romans and Greeks progress during the Middle Ages?

The progress made during the time of the Greeks and Romans was quickly reversed during the Middle Ages with the increase in power of the Church and the fall of the Roman Empire. Mental illness was yet again explained as possession by the Devil and methods such as exorcism, flogging, prayer, the touching of relics, chanting, visiting holy sites, and holy water were used to rid the person of his influence. In extreme cases, the afflicted were exposed to confinement, beatings, and even execution. Scientific and medical explanations, such as those proposed by Hippocrates, were discarded.

What did Galen believe about mental illness?

While Greek physician Galen (AD 130–201) rejected the notion of a uterus having an animistic soul, he agreed with the notion that an imbalance of the four bodily fluids could cause mental illness. Galen said mental disorders had either physical or mental causes and included fear, shock, alcoholism, head injuries, adolescence, and changes in menstruation.therefore, he opened the door for psychogenic explanations for mental illness by allowing for the experience of psychological stress as a potential cause of abnormality. Galen’s psychogenic theories were ignored for centuries, however, as physicians attributed mental illness to physical causes throughout most of the millennium.

What did Hippocrates believe about demonic possession?

Rejecting the idea of demonic possession, Greek physician, Hippocrates (460-377 B.C.), said that mental disorders were akin to physical disorders and had natural causes. Specifically, he suggested that they arose from brain pathology, or head trauma/brain dysfunction or disease, and were also affected by heredity. Hippocrates classified mental disorders into three main categories – melancholia, mania, and phrenitis (brain fever) and gave detailed clinical descriptions of each. He also described four main fluids or humors that directed normal functioning and personality – blood which arose in the heart, black bile arising in the spleen, yellow bile or choler from the liver, and phlegm from the brain. Mental disorders occurred when the humors were in a state of imbalance such as an excess of yellow bile causing frenzy/mania and too much black bile causing melancholia/depression. Hippocrates believed mental illnesses could be treated as any other disorder and focused on the underlying pathology.

What were the two competing perspectives of moral treatment?

The decline of the moral treatment approach in the late 19th century led to the rise of two competing perspectives – the biological or somatogenic perspective and the psychological or psychogenic perspective.

How did Freud's theory impact psychology?

First, most of Freud’s observations were made in an unsystematic, uncontrolled way and he relied on the case study method. Second, the participants in his studies were not representative of the larger body of people whom he tried to generalize to and he really based his theory on a few patients . Third, he relied solely on the reports of his patients and sought out no observer reports . Fourth, it is difficult to empirically study psychodynamic principles since most operate unconsciously . This begs the question of how can we really know that they exist. Finally, psychoanalytic treatment is expensive and time-consuming and since Freud’s time, drug therapies have become more popular and successful. Still, the work of Sigmund Freud raised awareness about the role the unconscious plays in both normal and abnormal behavior and he developed useful therapeutic tools for clinicians.

How did Freud use psychoanalysis?

Freud used three primary assessment techniques as part of psychoanalysis, or psychoanalytic therapy, to understand the personalities of his patients and to expose repressed material, which included free association, transference, and dream analysis. First, free association involves the patient describing whatever comes to mind during the session. The patient continues but always reaches a point when he/she cannot or will not proceed any further. The patient might change the subject, stop talking, or lose his/her train of thought. Freud said this was resistance and revealed where issues were.

What was Freud's theory of consciousness?

Freud believed that consciousness had three levels – 1) consciousness which was the seat of our awareness, 2) preconscious that included all of our sensations, thoughts, memories, and feelings, and 3) the unconscious which was not available to us. The contents of the unconscious could move from the unconscious to preconscious, but to do so, it had to pass a Gate Keeper. Content that was turned away was said to be repressed by Freud.

What did Mesmer do to help the human body?

This perspective had a long history but did not gain favor until the work of Viennese physician Franz Anton Mesmer (1734-1815). Influenced heavily by Newton’s theory of gravity, he believed that the planets also affected the human body through the force of animal magnetism and that all people had a universal magnetic fluid that determined how healthy they were. He demonstrated the usefulness of his approach when he cured Franzl Oesterline, a 27-year old woman experiencing what he described as a convulsive malady. Mesmer used a magnet to disrupt the gravitational tides that were affecting his patient and produced a sensation of the magnetic fluid draining from her body. This removed the illness from her body and produced a near instantaneous recovery. In reality, the patient was placed in a trancelike state which made her highly suggestible. With other patients, Mesmer would have them sit in a darkened room filled with soothing music, into which he would enter dressed in a colorful robe and passed from person to person touching the afflicted area of their body with his hand or a special rod/wand. He successfully cured deafness, paralysis, loss of bodily feeling, convulsions, menstrual difficulties, and blindness.

What was the most important development in the Renaissance?

The most noteworthy development in the realm of philosophy during the Renaissance was the rise of humanism, or the worldview that emphasizes human welfare and the uniqueness of the individual. This helped continue the decline of supernatural views of mental illness. In the mid to late 1500s, Johann Weyer (1515-1588), a German physician, published his book, On the Deceits of the Demons, that rebutted the Church’s witch-hunting handbook, the Malleus Maleficarum, and argued that many accused of being witches and subsequently imprisoned, tortured, hung, and/or burned at the stake, were mentally disturbed and not possessed by demons or the Devil himself. He believed that like the body, the mind was susceptible to illness. Not surprisingly, the book was met with vehement protest and even banned from the church. It should be noted that these types of acts occurred not only in Europe but also in the United States. The most famous example was the Salem Witch Trials of 1692 in which more than 200 people were accused of practicing witchcraft and 20 were killed.

When was mental illness first discovered?

The first evidence of people attempting to treat mental illness dates back as far as 5000 BCE. Evidence which includes trephined skulls which were found near the regions where the ancient civilizations were located.

What were the best treatments for the mentally ill?

They attempted to aid the mentally ill by engaging them in society. This includes dances, concerts, and other various social activities that might end up “ normalizing” them.

Why were the mentally ill abused?

Even though the mentally ill were left in the custody of their family, they were widely abused, particularly in the territories where Christianity ruled. Abuse such as beatings, torture and exile were common, this was due to the stigma and shame attached to these types of illnesses. Many locked away their struggling family members in cellars, or locked them away in a cage under the control of servants. Others were left to find their way in the world alone.

What was the purpose of trephining?

Later on down the road of time these trephining methods were used to relieve migraines as well as skull fractures . Trephining in the middle ages as depicted in the painting Cutting the Stone by Hieronymus Bosch. In ancient Mesopotamia more non skull fracturing methods were used.

What is the treatment for a cursed skull called?

Mystic treatments where used to aid the “cursed” but most of the time these treatments were brutal. One of those brutal procedures was called “Trephining ”, where one would be treated by receiving a hole in their skull (or trephine) so that the evil spirits can leave their head. This was done with stone tools.

When did mental illness become better?

The eventual improvement in the field of mental illness eventually came in the nineteenth century, where doctors began to deny the belief that an individual could be ill because of a manifestation of evil spirits.

Why were beatings used?

Beatings were commonly administered in hopes that the physical punishment would “teach” one out of his illness.

What did Hippocrates put mental illness down to?

Hippocrates put mental (and physical) illness down to an imbalance in the main bodily fluids.

When was mental health first discovered?

There’s evidence for the first treatments for mental health issues way being back in 6500BC. At that time, it was believed that mental illness came from supernatural sources: a product of demonic possession or a punishment for sin. They took what we would see as a pretty gruesome approach to releasing these evil spirits: trepanation. This involved cutting a hole in the skull by drilling or scraping away the bone – while the patient was wide awake. Thousands of examples of this practice have been found across the globe and, amazingly, many of them show signs of healing. Despite the lack of advanced medical knowledge, tools or even anaesthesia at the time, the survival rates of this crude method were surprisingly high.

How did they remove a part of the skull?

Peruvian burial sites have turned up skulls with holes made from rectangular cuts using hard stone knives. Specimens in France show trepanning by scraping with flint, while Kenyan examples indicate the creation of a circular groove, enabling a disc of bone to be lifted. Circular trephines and the drilling of multiple holes close to together were also quite standard into the Middle Ages.

What is the somatogenic approach to mental health?

The belief in the supernatural basis for mental illness eventually gave way to the somatogenic approach, which sees physiological issues as the root cause. The timeline of mental health treatment is not linear, and in fact these ideas had been around for a long time. An early example is that of ‘hysteria’, first alluded to in Ancient Egyptian texts. It was believed that a ‘wandering uterus’ was to blame for hysterical symptoms in women. Physicians treated this by ‘coaxing’ the uterus back to its rightful place, using strong-smelling substances to lure or repel it.

Who advocated trepanning?

The Dutch librarian and trepanning advocate Bart Hughes performed the procedure on himself as recently as 1965, with the intention of increasing blood flow in the brain to increase its functioning.

Which ancient civilization had a more natural approach to mental illness and associated it more closely with physical sickness?

The Ancient Greeks had a more natural approach to mental illness and associated it more closely with physical sickness.

What is the idea behind mental asylums?

The asylum is a kind of moral machinery," Professor Scull said. The idea was that manipulating the patient's environment, and providing a safe and forgiving place for them to be, could help restore them to sanity.

Is the closure of asylums matched with community care?

Professor Scull said the closure of asylums has not been matched with necessary levels of community care and in some ways, the mentally ill are worse off than they were before.

What was Rush's tranquiliser chair used for?

Rush's Tranquiliser Chair was used to remove sensory perception (. Getty Images: American Philosophical Society/Science Photo Library. ) Cool water was then poured on the person's head, and hot water on the feet, to "draw things away," Professor Scull said.

What did Professor Scull say about asylums?

Professor Scull said many asylums had such limited success rates with "cures" that most , especially state-run facilities, became overcrowded .

What was the effect of the Enlightenment after the Dark Ages?

The Age of Enlightenment following the Dark Ages led to tension between the religious establishment and the emerging sciences. "The doctors at that period confessed that some forms of madness genuinely belong in the province of the divines, in the province of the priests. But others, they claimed, belonged to them," Professor Scull said.

What is the history of madness and insanity?

Madness and insanity: A history of mental illness from evil spirits to modern medicine. The treatment, punishment and diagnosis of mental illness has an extraordinary history.

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Prehistoric and Ancient Beliefs

• Prehistoric cultures often held a supernatural view of abnormal behavior and saw it as the work of evil spirits, demons, gods, or witches who took control of the person. This form of demonic possession was believed to occur when the person engaged in behavior contrary to the religious teachings of the time. Treatment by cave dwellers included a tec...

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Greco-Roman Thought

The Middle Ages – 500 Ad to 1500 Ad

The Renaissance – 14th to 16th Centuries

Reform Movement – 18th to 19th Centuries

References

Ancient Views on Mental Illness

See more on courses.lumenlearning.com

Mental Health During The Middle Ages

from The Middle Ages to The Twentieth Century