Madness: A History, a film by the Films Media Group, is the final installment of a five part series, Kill or Cure: A History of Medical Treatment. It presents a history of the medical science community and it’s relationship with those who suffer from mental illness. The program uses original manuscripts, photos, testimonials, and video footage from medical archives, detailing the historical progression of doctors and scientists’ understanding and treatment of mental illness. The film compares and contrasts the techniques utilized today, with the methods of the past. The film offers an often grim and disturbing recounting of the road we’ve taken from madness to illness. Historically the course of medicine provided treatments that could …show more content…
The film gives a historical overview of how the mentally ill have been treated throughout history and chronicles the advancements and missteps the medical community has made along the way. Whittaker recounts the history of psychiatric treatment in America until 1950, he then moves on to describe the use of antipsychotic drugs to treat schizophrenia. He critically summarizes that it is doctors, rather than the patients, who have always calculated the evaluation of the merits of medical treatment, as the “mad” continue to be dismissed as unreliable witnesses. When in fact it is the patient being treated, and their subjective experience, that should be foremost in the evaluation. The film backs up this analysis with interviews of people, living viable lives in the town of Geel, Belgium. I would recommend this film to anyone interested in the history of medicine and specifically to those examining mental illness. It provides a balanced recounting of historical approaches to mental illness, along with success stories of the people of Geel, Belgium. And although I had to look away during the viewing of a lobotomy procedure, I give credit to the power of the visual impact the footage
The disorder which is being treated is actually strengthened to the point of a serious mental illness. Similarly, in today’s society, medical and psychological advice may have the same effect. Medical technology and practice have progressed considerably since the time of the “Yellow Wallpaper.” This is not to say that today’s physicians are infallible. Perhaps some of today’s treatments are the “Yellow Wallpaper” of the future.
As science has evolved, so have treatments for mental illnesses have over time. The medical model is described as the view that psychological disorders are medical diseases with a biological origin (King, 2010, pg. 413). Abnormal behavior that categorizes some disorders can be impacted by biological factors such as genes, psychological factors such as childhood experiences, and even sociocultural factors such as gender and race (King, 2010). Treatments such as psychosurgery (lobotomy) , drug therapy (pharmaceuticals), electroconclusive therapy, and psychoanalysis are used to treat a wide range of psychological disorders. Back then, the public’s negative views on mental illnesses also went as far to associate with the people who treated it; psychiatrists. “Nunnally (1961) found that the public evaluated professionals who treated mental disorders significantly more negatively than those who treat physical disorders,” (Phelan, Link, Stueve, & Pescosolido, 2000, pg. 189). People back then didn’t see the point in “paying to be told that they were crazy”. However, in today’s society, it is now acceptable to seek help from psychiatric professionals; we are seeing more and more people seek mental health treatment. “In terms of facility-based records of utilization (Manderscheid and Henderson 1998), the data suggest that the rate of utilization of professional mental health services has at least doubled and maybe tripled, between the 1950’s and today,” (Phelan, Link, Stueve, & Pescosolido, 2000, pg. 189). In the 1950’s, neuroleptic drugs like Thorazine were introduced to treat the symptoms of schizophrenia. These drugs block a neurotransmitter called dopamine from getting to the brain, which in turn reduce schizophrenic symptoms, however there are some side effects such as substantial twitching of the neck, arms, and legs, and even dysphoria or lack of pleasure. (King, 2010, pg.
In the late eighteenth century, the moral treatment was first adopted by Dr. Willis and then popularized by French physician Philippe Pinel and British philanthropist William Tuke. Discouraged by the inefficiency of traditional treatments and inspired by the Enlightenment principle, these innovators tried to find a new approach to help psychotics back to sanity. Because the principle and practices of moral treatment place a high value on respecting the liberty, humanity, and individuality of patients, the moral treatment achieved the success in curing patients and remained popular in the next century.
...ss. Psychiatrists during World War I, including Rivers and Yealland, aim to achieve, either directly or indirectly, the curing of their patients to the degree necessary in order to justify their return to the battlefield; not for the sake of their mental stability. Both Rivers and Yealland are also very similar in terms of the degree of control and influence they have over their respective patients. While Yealland’s treatments are extremely radical, and Rivers’s are more conventional, they do necessarily achieve the same thing through the great amount of power they have. Chapter 22 gives readers important insight on what Rivers, Yealland, and other psychiatrists actually, instead of superficially, accomplish, as well as affiliating Rivers with Yealland; two characters that might appear to be polarized initially, that actually have more similarities than differences.
Mark Drolsbaugh, a Deaf guidance counselor for the Pennsylvania School for the Deaf and author of the book Madness in the Mainstream, presented on Thursday, February 25 at McDaniel College. Deaf events, such as the lecture by Mark, occur around two to three times a semester. The American Sign Language (ASL) Department of McDaniel College hosts these events. The topic of the presentation that night was about the disputes of education with deaf children attending mainstream schools and was subsequently titled “Madness in the Mainstream”. Mark starts by discussing the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) and how it guarantees equal education for all. Consequently, children who are
The treatment of the mentally ill started back in the far past. In 400 BC, Hippocrates, who was a Greek physician, treated mental illness as diseases of disturbed physiology, and not displeasure of the Gods or demonic possession ("Timeline: Treatments for," ). Greek medical writers found treatments such as quiet, occupation, and the use of a drug called purgative hellebore ("Timeline: Treatments for,”). During these times, family members took care of the mentally ill ("Timeline: Treatments for,”). In the middle Ages, the Europeans let the mentally ill have their freedom, as long as they were not dangerous ("Timeline: Treatments for,”). The mentally ill were also seen as witches who were possessed by demons ("Timeline: Treatments for,”). In 1407, the first mental illness establishment was made in Valencia, Spain ("Timeline: Treatments for,”).
De Roche uses the history of the Swiss sanatorium to explain how it became a tool of financial gain for physicians and a disillusioned haven for patients as illustrated in “Tender Is the Night.” Between the end of the ninetieth and beginning of the twentieth centuries Switzerland experiences two major “cultural developments: the rise of tourism and advances in psychiatry” which aid in the ushering of many tourists seeking a place that promised health, safety, and above all...
In prehistory, the idea of a mental illness was challenging to comprehend. The people of these ancient times thought it was magical spirits o...
Szasz, Thomas. Coercion as Cure: A Critical History of Psychiatry. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Transaction, 2007. Print. Braslow, Joel T. Mental Ills and Bodily Cures: Psychiatric Treatment in the First Half of the Twentieth Century. California: University of California, 1997. Print.
The sickness of insanity stems from external forces and stimuli, ever-present in our world, weighing heavily on the psychological, neurological, and cognitive parts of our mind. It can drive one to madness through its relentless, biased, and poisoned view of the world, creating a dichotomy between what is real and imagined. It is a defense mechanism that allows one to suffer the harms of injustice, prejudice, and discrimination, all at the expense of one’s physical and mental faculties.
The video Madness of History fits into the history of psychology is by the way those with a mental illness had gone through many forms of treatments. By looking at the forms of treatment that would work, and even by using the ones that did not, to help guide them into a different direction that would work, and bringing them one step closer to a form of treatment. The video shows how those with a mental illness were treated and they were just isolated form the world in a prison, would change and they would develop good living standards for them.
4 Shorter, Edward. (1997) A History of Psychiatry: From the Era of the Asylum to the Age of Prozac John Wiley & Sons, Inc. USA3.
Doward, J. (2013), Medicine's big new battleground: does mental illness really exist? The Observer 12 May.
Girl Interrupted is a film about a young woman, Susanna Kaysen, who voluntarily enters a psychiatric facility in Massachusetts. The purpose of this paper is to analyze a portrayal of psychiatric care in the 1960’s. The film is based on the memoirs of Susanna Kaysen and her experiences during an 18 month stay at a mental institution. During her visit, Susanna is diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. The film depicts psychiatric care, diagnoses, and treatments from a different era.