History of mental disorders
Hippocrates was important in this tradition as he identified syphilis as a disease and was, therefore, an early proponent of the idea that psychological disorders are biologically caused.
Well known philosophers like Plato, Aristotle, etc., wrote about the importance of fantasies, dreams, and thus anticipated, to some extent, the fields of psychoanalytic thought and cognitive science that were later developed.
[4] There is archaeological evidence for the use of trepanation in around 6500 BC, though it is unknown if this was done as a response to mental illnesses, or to treat physiological conditions such as cranial hemorrhaging.
[6] Limited notes in an ancient Egyptian document known as the Ebers papyrus appear to describe the affected states of concentration, attention, and emotional distress in the heart or mind.
The Charaka Samhita which is a part of the Hindu Ayurveda ("knowledge of life"), saw ill health as resulting from an imbalance among the three body fluids or forces called Tri-Dosha.
Suggested causes included inappropriate diet, disrespect towards the gods, teachers or others, mental shock due to excessive fear or joy, and faulty bodily activity.
[14] The Inner Canon of the Yellow Emperor described symptoms, mechanisms and therapies for mental illness, emphasizing connections between bodily organs and emotions.
Mental illness, according to the Chinese perspective, is thus considered an imbalance of the yin and yang because optimum health arises from balance with nature.
[20] However, Socrates considered positive aspects including prophesying (a 'manic art'); mystical initiations and rituals; poetic inspiration; and the madness of lovers.
The Greek physician Asclepiades (c. 124–40 BC), who practiced in Rome, discarded it and advocated humane treatments, and had insane persons freed from confinement and treated them with natural therapy, such as diet and massages.
[28] Galen, however, adopted a single symptom approach rather than broad diagnostic categories, for example studying separate states of sadness, excitement, confusion and memory loss.
Roman encyclopedist Celsus argued that insanity is really present when a continuous dementia begins due to the mind being at the mercy of imaginings.
He described common practices of dietetics, bloodletting, drugs, talking therapy, incubation in temples, exorcism, incantations and amulets, as well as restraints and "tortures" to restore rationality, including starvation, being terrified suddenly, agitation of the spirit, and stoning and beating.
Accounts of delusions from the time included people who thought themselves to be famous actors or speakers, animals, inanimate objects, or one of the gods.
Authors who wrote on mental disorders and/or proposed treatments during this period include Al-Balkhi, Al-Razi, Al-Farabi, Ibn-Sina, Al-Majusi[38] Abu al-Qasim al-Zahrawi, Averroes,[39] and Najab ud-din Unhammad.
[37] In the centuries to come, the Muslim world would eventually serve as a critical way station of knowledge for Renaissance Europe, through the Latin translations of many scientific Islamic texts.
[47] Thus, although mental disorder was often thought to be due to sin, other more mundane causes were also explored, including intemperate diet and alcohol, overwork, and grief.
[48] The Franciscan friar Bartholomeus Anglicus (c. 1203 – 1272) described a condition which resembles depression in his encyclopedia, De Proprietatibis Rerum, and he suggested that music would help.
The latter term was applied to those with periods of mental disorder; deriving from either Roman mythology describing people "moonstruck" by the goddess Luna[49] or theories of an influence of the moon.
In England, if the family were unable or unwilling, an assessment was made by crown representatives in consultation with a local jury and all interested parties, including the subject himself or herself.
[55] As in other eras, visions were generally interpreted as meaningful spiritual and visionary insights; some may have been causally related to mental disorders, but since hallucinations were culturally supported they may not have had the same connections as today.
[47] The latter likely grew out of lodging arrangements for single individuals (who, in workhouses, were considered disruptive or ungovernable) then there were a few catering each for only a handful of people, then they gradually expanded (e.g. 16 in London in 1774, and 40 by 1819).
[59] The "oldest forensic secure hospital in Europe" was opened in 1850 after Sir Thomas Freemantle introduced the bill that was to establish a Central Criminal Lunatic Asylum in Ireland on 19 May 1845.
[66] Clear descriptions of some syndromes, such as the condition that would later be termed schizophrenia, have been identified as relatively rare prior to the 19th century,[67] although interpretations of the evidence and its implications are inconsistent.
[49] In the United States, a "mental hygiene" movement, originally defined in the 19th century, gained momentum and aimed to "prevent the disease of insanity" through public health methods and clinics.
Theories of eugenics led to compulsory sterilization movements in many countries around the world for several decades, often encompassing patients in public mental institutions.
[74] It has been estimated that over 200,000 individuals with mental disorders of all kinds were put to death, although their mass murder has received relatively little historical attention.
Despite not being formally ordered to take part, psychiatrists and psychiatric institutions were at the center of justifying, planning and carrying out the atrocities at every stage, and "constituted the connection" to the later annihilation of Jews and other "undesirables" such as homosexuals in The Holocaust.
Deinstitutionalization gradually occurred in the West, with isolated psychiatric hospitals being closed down in favor of community mental health services.
Physicians deliberately put the patient into a low blood sugar coma because they thought that large fluctuations in insulin levels could alter the function of the brain.
