Full Answer
How were the mentally ill treated in the past?
TREATMENT 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.
What percentage of those with a mental illness are treated with medication?
Approximately 75 percent of those with a mental illness are treated with therapy alone, 10 percent use medications only, and just 15 percent are treated with both. c. While the combined approach is commonly used in the treatment of children, the same is not true in the adult population where the "quick fix" of medication is the norm. d.
How has the field of mental illness changed over time?
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.
How was mental illness viewed in the Middle Ages?
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. If someone was considered to be possessed, there were several forms of treatment to release spirits from the individual.
How was mental illness treated in the past?
Exorcisms, malnutrition, and inappropriate medications all appeared as treatment methods for people with mental illnesses. The idea that people with mental illness were “crazy” or “other-worldly” influenced the lack of effective treatment methods.
How has the treatment of mental illness changed over time?
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 was mental health viewed in the past?
TREATMENT 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.
How did they treat mental illness 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.
How was mental illness 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.
What are the historical perspectives about mental illness?
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.
How was mental illness 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.
How was mental illness treated in the 20th century?
Psychotherapy emerges. For the most part, private asylums offered the treatments that were popular at that time. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, most physicians held a somatic view of mental illness and assumed that a defect in the nervous system lay behind mental health problems.
How did they treat depression in the past?
Exorcisms, drowning, and burning were popular treatments of the time. Many people were locked up in so-called "lunatic asylums." While some doctors continued to seek physical causes for depression and other mental illnesses, they were in the minority.
How did they treat mental illness 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.
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.
How is mental health treated today?
Psychotherapy is the therapeutic treatment of mental illness provided by a trained mental health professional. Psychotherapy explores thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, and seeks to improve an individual's well-being. Psychotherapy paired with medication is the most effective way to promote recovery.
How was mental illness treated in the 20th century?
Psychotherapy emerges. For the most part, private asylums offered the treatments that were popular at that time. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, most physicians held a somatic view of mental illness and assumed that a defect in the nervous system lay behind mental health problems.
How was mental illness 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.
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.
101 Mental Health Treatment: Past and Present
Explain how people with psychological disorders have been treated throughout the ages
TREATMENT 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.
MENTAL HEALTH TREATMENT TODAY
Today, there are community mental health centers across the nation. They are located in neighborhoods near the homes of clients, and they provide large numbers of people with mental health services of various kinds and for many kinds of problems.
Summary
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.
Critical Thinking Questions
People with psychological disorders have been treated poorly throughout history. Describe some efforts to improve treatment, include explanations for the success or lack thereof.
Personal Application Questions
Do you think there is a stigma associated with mentally ill persons today? Why or why not?
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.
Learning Objectives
Figure 1. This painting by Francisco Goya, called The Madhouse, depicts a mental asylum and its inhabitants in the early 1800s. It portrays those with psychological disorders as victims.
Link to Learning
View this timeline showing the history of mental institutions in the United States.
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.
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 medical practices of medieval Europe?
Medieval Europe, along with it’s medicinal practices was overtaken by Christianity. That means more exorcisms, more chants, more torturing. 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. A combination of black hellebore, clocynth and aloes was believed to cleanse one of melancholy, this concoction was called Hiera Logadii. Extracting blood was a common medical treatment, and any form of bleeding was used… this included extracting it from the forehead, tapping the hemorroidal veins or the head. The tobacco that was later imported from America was used to induce vomiting. A unique form of shock treatment was used during the medieval ages where the mentally ill would be thrown into cold waters so that the shock would “bring them to their senses”.
What did the Persians think of the cure for illness?
The Persians in particular thought that the way to cure these illnesses was to have a pure mind, body and soul. To do that you would need to commit good deeds and have good thoughts all the while you keep your hygiene adequate. The ancient Egyptians were the ones with the best treatments for this given time period.
What is 2129 mental illness?
2129. - Advertisement -. A mental illness can be caused by a lot of factors, be it environmental, psychological, or genetic. These disorders influence the cognitive ability of the one who is affected, and in dangerous cases they know how to take over. It is no secret that these illnesses test the foundation, and the core ...
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.
Where was the first mental hospital?
Care of the mentally ill was generally left to the family of the individual, although some outside intervention occurred (Church). Interesting fact: Baghdad was the home of the first mental hospital which dates back to 792. Soon after Baghdad came the now ruined cities of Syria, Aleppo and Damascus.
Who argued for more humane treatment of the mentally ill?
It portrays those with psychological disorders as victims. In the late 1700s, a French physician, Philippe Pinel, argued for more humane treatment of the mentally ill. He suggested that they be unchained and talked to, and that’s just what he did for patients at La Salpêtrière in Paris in 1795 ( [link] ).
How did the Mental Health Act change the United States?
It started the process of deinstitutionalization, the closing of large asylums, by providing for people to stay in their communities and be treated locally.
Why did people become homeless in the 1960s?
Some did go to their family homes, but many became homeless due to a lack of resources and support mechanisms.
What was the purpose of asylums?
Asylums were the first institutions created for the specific purpose of housing people with psychological disorders, but the focus was ostracizing them from society rather than treating their disorders .
How much did the Department of Agriculture invest in mental health?
At the end of 2013, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced an investment of $50 million to help improve access and treatment for mental health problems as part of the Obama administration’s effort to strengthen rural communities.
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.
What does it mean to be voluntarily treated?
Other individuals might voluntarily seek treatment. Voluntary treatment means the person chooses to attend therapy to obtain relief from symptoms. Psychological treatment can occur in a variety of places. An individual might go to a community mental health center or a practitioner in private or community practice.