Full Answer
What was the treatment of the mentally ill in the 1700s?
Concern over the treatment of the mentally ill increased over the 1700s and some positive reforms were enacted. In some places, shackling of the mentally ill was now forbidden and people were allowed in "sunny rooms" and encouraged to exercise on the grounds. In other places, serious mistreatment of the mentally ill still occurred.
How did cavemen treat 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.
When did asylums start treating the mentally ill?
Asylums While terrifying mental health remedies can be traced back to prehistoric times, it’s the dawn of the asylum era in the mid-1700s that marks a period of some of the most inhumane mental health treatments. This is when asylums themselves became notorious warehouses for the mentally ill.
When was the first drug for mental illness introduced?
As a result of this law, the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) was formed in 1949. Also in 1949, lithium, the first truly effective drug for mental illness, was introduced and became widely used to treat manic-depression (now known as bipolar disorder).
Who started humane treatment of the mentally ill?
William Tuke (1732-1822) in York pioneered the humane treatment of the mentally ill. At the same time in Paris, Philippe Pinel (1745-1826) (Fig 1) also took a kinder, less cruel approach to treatment and furthered the understanding of mental illness.
Who argued for the humane treatment of the mentally ill in the US?
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.
Who made mental hospitals more humane?
Dorothea Dix played an instrumental role in the founding or expansion of more than 30 hospitals for the treatment of the mentally ill. She was a leading figure in those national and international movements that challenged the idea that people with mental disturbances could not be cured or helped.
Who first discovered mental illness?
While diagnoses were recognized as far back as the Greeks, it was not until 1883 that German psychiatrist Emil Kräpelin (1856–1926) published a comprehensive system of psychological disorders that centered around a pattern of symptoms (i.e., syndrome) suggestive of an underlying physiological cause.
Who was Philippe Pinel and Dorothea Dix?
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.
What was Philippe Pinel known for?
Abstract. Philippe Pinel (1745–1826) is often said to be the father of modern clinical psychiatry. He is most famous for being a committed pioneer and advocate of humanitarian methods in the treatment of the mentally ill, and for the development of a mode of psychological therapy known as moral treatment.
Why did Dorothea Dix help the mentally ill?
Dix – a teacher and nurse during the American Civil War – tirelessly campaigned for the fair treatment of patients with mental health disorders, after being appalled by the conditions in which they were confined.
Who introduced moral treatment?
Chief among those who spearheaded introduction of the moral treatment movement in the United States were Benjamin Rush, Dorothea Lynde Dix, Thomas Scattergood, and Thomas Story Kirkbride. Benjamin Rush was a physician and also Surgeon General of the Continental Armies.
When was the treatment of mental disorders using humane methods?
Moral therapy originated in the Gheel colony, Belgium, during the 13th century, but it came to fruition in the 19th century through the efforts of Philippe Pinel (see Salpêtrière) and Jean Esquirol (1772–1840) in France; William Tuke (1732–1822) in England; and Benjamin Rush (1745–1813), Isaac Ray (1807–1881), and ...
When did mental health treatment begin?
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 ...
When was the Mental Health Act first introduced?
The Mental Health Act 1959 was the first parliamentary Act on mental health that started treating the subject more seriously. This was the first legal move to treat mental health issues similarly to physical illness (as close as possible).
What was the first mental illness?
China. 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".
When was mental illness first discovered?
Mental illness is not a modern phenomenon, but the treatment is still in it’s infancy. There is evidence back as far as 5000 BCE that mentally ill individuals were believed to be possessed by demons. To “cure” someone of this, their skulls were trephined, which means that there were holes drilled in their skulls.
When did Harry Truman start the National Institute of Mental Health?
In 1946, Harry Truman signed the National Mental Health Act calling for a National Institute of Mental Health to conduct research. Not long after, in 1949 Australian psychiatrist J.F.J. Cade introduced the use of Lithium, a drug that is still prescribed today.
What did Hippocrates believe about humor?
Hippocrates believed that those who were mentally ill had an imbalance of their humors. Humors were liquids in the body, which included blood, yellow bile, black bile, and phlegm. Hippocrates believed that certain moods and emotions were caused by an excess or lack of these humors.
How many asylums did Dix create?
Directly due to Dix’s hard work, 32 asylums were established, including St. Elizabeth’s in Washington DC.
How many homeless people were mentally ill in the 1980s?
In the 1980’s an estimated 1/3 of all homeless in the US were believed to be mentally ill. In 1992, 7.2% of US inmates were mentally ill. Some of those inmates were not charged with a crime, but were awaiting a bed in a hospital.
What was the belief that the mentally ill were witches?
Moving forward to the middle ages, it was believed that those who were mentally ill were witches, or as was believed in 5000 BCE, were possessed by demons. In the 8 th century, however, Muslim Arabs established asylums, believing that God loved the mentally ill, and therefore they needed to be treated humanely.
Why did the Egyptians encourage the mentally ill to engage in recreation?
The Egyptians encouraged them to engage in recreation, such as dance or painting. They believed the recreation would help alleviate the symptoms.
Why did the authorities not confine the mentally ill to jail?
Therefore, the authorities no longer confined the mentally ill to jails. These ideas arose from the Mental Hygiene Movement. Treatments weren’t based on evidence but on the basis of trying to improve conditions for the mentally ill. The problem was that the caregivers tended to be cured patients.
When was the last update on mental health?
Last update: 20 June, 2021. The way in which people have viewed mental health problems has changed over time in accordance with both history and circumstances. Likewise, the treatment of mental illness has varied, according to the advances in medicine, psychology, and psychiatry of the time. Throughout, history, mental illnesses have been both ...
Why is mental illness considered divine punishment?
When little or nothing was known about mental illness or psychological health, experts considered any illness without an apparent physiological structure to be divine punishment. For this reason, they considered mental illness a fight between good and evil.
How did doctors improve patients' well-being?
Before psychopharmaceuticals emerged, doctors used a number of techniques to improve patients well-being: Hydrotherapy generated shocks and crises in patients. Patients stayed in water baths for days. Doctors used cold water for manic depressives and warm baths for suicidal patients. There were also steam cabins.
What was the illness that changed everything?
Syphilis, the illness that changed everything. When syphilis emerged, the treatment of mental illness changed radically. This happened during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. At this time, an epidemic of syphilis and gonorrhea was raging through Europe. Flaubert was a French author.
Why do doctors use electroconvulsive therapy?
Nevertheless, doctors used it to replace coma therapy. This was because it was easier to use and less risky.
What did psychiatrists think of OCD?
Both of these psychiatrists thought that, in mental disorders such as OCD or psychosis, where there’s a supremacy of the emotional over the rational, it would be of interest to cut the nerve fibers of the frontal cortex with the thalamus. Their idea was to put a stop to recurrent thoughts.
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”.
Who was the first person to reform asylums?
Two reformists greatly influenced the spread of what is known as the “Humanitarian Movement,” the first being Phillipe Pinel, in Paris.
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 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.
Why is the asylum called Bedlam?
Another example would be Saint Mary of Bethlehem, an asylum nicknamed “Bedlam” due to its horrific treatment of the mentally ill. Their “violent” patients were on display like “sideshow freaks” and their “gentler” patients were forced to beg on the streets.
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).
When did mental health start?
The term “mental hygiene” spread in the medical field starting in the 19th century. Prior to this, there wasn’t an official term to describe emotional or behavioral struggles that have existed for ages.
What were the new forms of mental health in the 19th and 20th centuries?
In addition to isolation, the 19th and 20th century brought new forms of addressing mental health concerns, including: Freudian therapeutic techniques, such as the “talking cure.”. Electroshock, a.k.a electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) Antipsychotic drugs and other medications.
Why did Dix travel around the world?
Alt hough she based herself in the United States, Dix traveled around the world to deliver her message. She even managed to convince Pope Pius IX to examine the unjust ways people with mental illnesses were treated. Dix believed in hospitalizing people with mental illnesses who needed treatment.
What are the different types of mental health?
In addition to isolation, the 19th and 20th century brought new forms of addressing mental health concerns, including: 1 Freudian therapeutic techniques, such as the “talking cure.” 2 Electroshock, a.k.a electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) 3 Antipsychotic drugs and other medications 4 Lobotom y and other forms of psychosurgery
What were the two categories of mental health issues in the 16th century?
In the 16th century, many doctors split mental health issues into two categories: demonic possession or physical illness. When a physical ailment or abnormality presented itself in a patient with mental illness, treatments often focused on fixing the physical symptoms.
What was the use of social isolation 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.
Who was Dorothea Dix?
Dorothea Dix was a revolutionary leader in the mental health movement that started during the 19th and 20th centuries.
Who first discovered mental disorders?
Though the idea fell into oblivion for several centuries it re-emerged in the late 19th century for two reasons. First, German psychiatrist, Emil Kraepelin (1856-1926), discovered that symptoms occurred regularly in clusters which he called syndromes. These syndromes represented a unique mental disorder with its own cause, course, and prognosis. In 1883 he published his textbook, Compendium der Psychiatrie (Textboook of Psychiatry), and described a system for classifying mental disorders that became the basis of the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) that is currently in its 5th edition (published in 2013).
What did Roman doctors do to help with mental health?
Roman physicians treated mental disorders with massage and warm baths, with the hope that their patients be as comfortable as possible. They practiced the concept of “ contrariis contrarius ”, meaning opposite by opposite, and introduced contrasting stimuli to bring about balance in the physical and mental domains.
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 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 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 supernatural view 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. This form of demonic possession was believed to occur when the person engaged in behavior contrary to the religious teachings of the time.
What was the treatment for melancholia in the 1950s?
He noticed that after experiencing a severe shock his memories had changed and in published work, suggested physicians study electric shock as a treatment for melancholia. Beginning in the 1950s, psychiatric or psychotropic drugs were used for the treatment of mental illness and made an immediate impact.
Who was the reformer who pushed to establish 32 state hospitals for the mentally ill?
At this time, U.S. reformer, Dorothea Dix, pushed to establish 32 state hospitals for the mentally ill. Unfortunately, hospitals and humane treatment of the mentally ill did not cure them as previously expected and this led to overcrowding and an emphasis on custodial care rather than humane treatment.
When did mental illness start?
The history of mental illness goes back as far as written records and perhaps took its first major leap forward in 400 B.C. when Greek physician, Hippocrates, began to treat mental illness as physiological diseases rather than evidence of demonic possession or displeasure from the gods as they had previously been believed to be.
What was the effect of the 1700s on the mental health?
Concern over the treatment of the mentally ill increased over the 1700s and some positive reforms were enacted. In some places, shackling of the mentally ill was now forbidden and people were allowed in "sunny rooms" and encouraged to exercise on the grounds. In other places, serious mistreatment of the mentally ill still occurred.
What was the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill?
In the 1980s, advocacy groups such as the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill (NAMI) and the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression were formed to advocate for the mentally ill and finance research.
Where did mental illness originate?
The Early History of Mental Illness. The early history of mental illness happens in Europe where, in the Middle Ages, the mentally ill were granted their freedom in some places if they were shown not to be dangerous. In other places, the mentally ill were treated poorly and said to be witches. In the 1600s, Europeans began to isolate those ...
How many people were hospitalized in the 1950s?
In the mid-1950s the numbers of hospitalized mentally ill peaked at 560,000 in the United States. This, plus the advent of effective psychiatric medication, led to many mentally ill people being removed from institutions and directed towards local mental health facilities. The number of institutionalized mentally ill dropped to 130,000 in 1980.
What were the most common mental illnesses in the 1930s?
In the 1930s, mental illness treatments were in their infancy and convulsions, comas and fever (induced by electroshock, camphor, insulin and malaria injections) were common. Other treatments included removing parts of the brain (lobotomies).
What is the most infamous treatment for mental illness?
One of the most infamous treatments for mental illness includes electroconvulsive shock therapy. Types of non-convulsive electric shock therapy can be traced back as early as the 1st century A.D., when, according to de Young, “the malaise and headaches of the Roman emperor Claudius were treated by the application of a torpedo fish — better known as an electric ray — on his forehead.” But their heydey in treating mental illness began in 1938.
Who was the father of psychiatry?
Although Benjamin Rush, who’s considered to be the father of American psychiatry, was first to abandon the theory that demon possession caused insanity, this didn’t stop him from using old “humoral treatments” on asylum patients to cure their minds. Instead of letting out demons, as the treatment was originally intended, he thought the body’s fluids were out of balance. As such, “he purged, blistered, vomited, and bled his patients,” writes Mary de Young in Madness: An American History of Mental Illness and Its Treatment.
When did metrazol shock therapy stop?
Beyond its terrifying experience, metrazol shock therapy also produced retrograde amnesia. Luckily, the Federal Drug Administration revoked metrazol’s approval in 1982, and this method of treatment for schizophrenia and depression disappeared in the 1950s, thanks to electroconvulsive shock therapy.
What were the mechanical restraints used in asylums?
Asylums also relied heavily on mechanical restraints, using straight jackets, manacles, waistcoats, and leather wristlets, sometimes for hours or days at a time. Doctors claimed restraints kept patients safe, but as asylums filled up, the use of physical restraint was more a means of controlling overcrowded institutions.
How long does it take for a dead person to be revived?
After several hours, the living dead would be revived from the coma, and thought cured of their madness. This process would be repeated daily for months at a time, with doctors sometimes administering as many as 50 to 60 treatments per patient, according to Lieberman.
What is the best treatment for manic episodes?
Hydrotherapy proved to be a popular technique. Warm, or more commonly, cold water, allegedly reduced agitation, particularly for those experiencing manic episodes. People were either submerged in a bath for hours at a time, mummified in a wrapped “pack,” or sprayed with a deluge of shockingly cold water in showers.
When did asylums become notorious warehouses?
While terrifying mental health remedies can be traced back to prehistoric times, it’s the dawn of the asylum era in the mid-1700s that marks a period of some of the most inhumane mental health treatments. This is when asylums themselves became notorious warehouses for the mentally ill.
Mental Health Treatment in Ancient Times
The Oldest Medical Books in The World
- 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 …
The Four Humors
- 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 …
Caring For The Mentally Ill
- 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…
from Workhouses to Asylums
- 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…
The Roots of Reform
- While bloodletting and inducing vomiting were still the preferred form of treatment (when staff actually deigned to help their wards), additional forms of “therapy” included dousing the patients in extremely hot or cold water, the idea being that the shock would force their minds back into a healthy state. The belief that mental disturbance was still a choice prevailed, so staff used physi…
Moving Away from Moral Treatment
- The radical nature of moral treatment made waves on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean. When the moral method reached the shores of the United States, doctors understood it to be a comprehensive way of treating mentally ill people by working on their social, individual, and occupational needs. This was the first time that the idea of rehabilitating mentally ill people bac…
Sigmund Freud
- Notwithstanding the end of the moral treatment movement, the conversation about mental health treatment was ready to take a big step forward. A major figure in that progression was Sigmund Freud. The famous Austrian neurologist and psychiatrist developed his theory of psychoanalysis, which gave rise to the practice of “talking cures” and free association, encouraging patients to ta…
The Rise and Fall of Electroconvulsive Therapy
- 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 …
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- Those that were admitted to madhouses were abused and often abandoned by their caregivers who were not trained in the treatment of mental disorders. Private madhouses, however, were often run by clergy men on direct orders from the Vaticanand were significantly more humane. The treatments instituted by the clergymen included regular church attendance, pilgrimages, as …
Explore More Articles
- As the social perspectives and knowledge have changed, so has the treatment of those afflicted with mental pathologies. These treatments will continue to change as the world expands on its knowledge of brain pathology. As Leeman says, “mental illness is not accurately described as a disease of the mind or brain and… treatment must attend to the whole patient” so as we continu…
Works Cited
- Dain, Norman, PhD. “The Chronic Mental Patient in 19th-Century America.”Psychiatric Annals 10.9 (1980): 11,15,19,22. ProQuest. Web. 25 Sep. 2014. Drake, Robert E., et al. “The History of Community Mental Health Treatment and Rehabilitation for Persons with Severe Mental Illness.”Community mental health journal 39.5 (2003): 427-40. ProQuest. Web. 25 Sep. 2014. Fo…