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Essay on the history of treatment for mental health
Essay On History Of Mental Illness
Essay on the history of treatment for mental health
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The History of Mental Illness Treatment
Mental illness has been around since as early as 5000 BCE(Before Common Era) and the treatment of mental illness has been around just as long. There has always been an interest of what happens when a person's mind turns against them, and just what can be done, if anything to help or reverse this condition. Efforts to take care of mental illness date back as early as 5000 BCE as evidenced by the unearthing of trephined human skulls in locations that were residence to ancient cultures (Porter, 2002). Earliest mankind commonly believed that mental illness was the effect of supernatural or some sort of mystical phenomena such as divine or demonic possession, sorcery, or an angry god and so responded
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They were also very advanced in the areas of medicine, surgery, and the understanding of the human body. Two papyri dating as far back as the sixteenth century BCE, the Edwin Smith papyrus and the Ebers papyrus, show early handling of wounds, surgical procedures, and identifies, more than likely for the very first time, the brain as the site of mental functions. These papyri also demonstrate that, regardless of revolutionary thinking about illness, magic and spells were still used to treat sicknesses that were of mysterious origin, often believed to be the result of supernatural powers such as the devil or unhappy divine beings (Butcher 2007). Early Egyptians also agreed with the early Greeks idea that hysteria in women, today also known as Conversion Disorder, was the result of a “wandering uterus,” and thusly used fumigation of the vagina to entice the organ back into proper position (Alexander 1996). In each of these ancient civilizations, psychological illness was credited to some supernatural power, usually a unhappy god or goddess. Most illness, especially psychological illness, was believed to be …show more content…
It was not until an Australian psychiatrist J.F.J Cade introduced the psychotropic drug Lithium in 1949 that psychopharmacology actually took off. A string of successful anti-psychotic drugs were introduced in the 1950s that did not alleviate psychosis but were able to manage its symptoms. Chlorpromazine (commonly known as Thorazine) was the earliest of the anti-psychotic drugs, discovered in, France in 1952 (“Timeline”). Valium became the world’s most approved tranquilizer in the 1960s, and Prozac, introduced in 1987, became the most prescribed antidepressant (Porter
Leupo, Kimberly. "The History of Mental Illness." The History of Mental Illness. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2013.
How do the issues facing those doing strategic planning differ from those doing tactical planning? Can the two really be
Stahl, S. M., & Mignon, L. (2010). Antipsychotics: Treating psychosis, mania and depression (2nd ed.).
Culture is a collection of religion, traditions, and beliefs that are passed down from generation to generation. Culture is created and maintained through the repetition of stories and behavior. It is never definite because it is continuously being modified to match current trends, however, historical principles are still relevant. With respect to mental illness, culture is crucial to how people choose to deal with society and the methods used to diagnose and cope with mental illnesses. In Watters’
Before Kirkbride's standardized methods for mental hospitals, those with mental illness suffered crude and inhuman treatment. Beginning in Colonial America society, people suffering from mental illness were referred to as lunatics. Colonists viewed lunatics as being possessed by the devil, and usually were removed from societ...
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.
Mental illness has been around as long as people have been. However, the movement really started in the 19th century during industrialization. The Western countries saw an immense increase in the number and size of insane asylums, during what was known as “the great confinement” or the “asylum era” (Torrey, Stieber, Ezekiel, Wolfe, Sharfstein, Noble, Flynn Criminalizing the Seriously Mentally Ill). Laws were starting to be made to pressure authorities to face the people who were deemed insane by family members and hospital administrators. Because of the overpopulation in the institutions, treatment became more impersonal and had a complex mix of mental and social-economic problems. During this time the term “psychiatry” was identified as the medical specialty for the people who had the job as asylum superintendents. These superintendents assumed managerial roles in asylums for people who were considered “alienated” from society; people with less serious conditions wer...
Mental illness is more common than one would like to believe. In reality, one in five Americans will suffer from a mental disorder in any given year. Though that ratio is about equivalent to more than fifty-four million people, mental illness still remains a shameful and stigmatized topic (National Institute of Mental Health, n.d.). The taboo of mental illness has an extensive and exhausting history, dating back to the beginning of American colonization. It has not been an easy road, to say the least.
There are so many types of mental illnesses that affect people every day. When some people think of mental illnesses they think of the ones that would cause people to have physical symptoms as well, but that’s untrue, there are many more that you would never know anyone has if you were to see them on the street. As defined by the 2008 encyclopedia “a mental illness is any disease of the mind or brain that seriously affects a person’s ability or behavior. Symptoms of a mental illness may include extreme moods, such as excessive sadness or anxiety, or a decreased ability to think clearly or remember well.” A mentally ill person has severe symptoms that damage the person’s ability to function in everyday activities and situations. Every nation and every economic level can be affected by a mental illness. In the United States alone about 3% of the population has severe mental illness and to add to that number about 40% of people will experience a type of mental illness at least once in their lives. Some cases of mental illnesses can go away on their own, but some cases are so severe that they require professional treatment. There is so much more available to help people recover from their symptoms than in the past.
Did you know that one in five Americans suffer from a mental illness (Newsweek)? The only treatment widely accessible is therapy and medication. Which type of treatment is more effective? Mental illness treatment in the 1800’s was extremely ineffective. If someone was to have had a mental illness those people were placed in institutions that were quite similar to jails. People who resided here had no opportunities to leave, no matter had badly they wanted to. Patients were kept in filthy conditions, chained to their beds, and even abused. Recent treatment for mental illness over the past 20 years has greatly advanced. Studies have shown that cognitive therapy is as effective as antidepressant medications at treating depression (Bekiempis).
In present day America the way mental health is handled is very different from the treatment of mental health in the 1990’s. Today the mentally ill have effective medication and therapy. Back in the 1990’s treating mental health was very new. Unlike today before the 1900’s most of the mentally ill were in prisons. Around the 1950 the United States Government invested in making a safe haven for mentally ill patients where they could be protected and could be medically help. Sadly this took a turn for the worse. Mental hospitals soon became the quite opposite of what it was once hoped to be. The rise and fall of mental asylums changed mental health in America forever.
Schmied, L. A., Steinberg, H., & Sykes, E. A. B. (2006). Psychopharmacology's debt to experimental psychology. History of Psychology, 9, 144-157.
Mental illnesses were acted upon with neglect, restraint, and punishment, but doctors began to realize how unhelpful many of those things are. Medicine was not to be used as a primary control, while kindness combined with firmness, fresh air, healthy occupation, good food, well-ventilated dwellings, and attention to general health, became a paramount importance (Ernst 542). It was a huge turn for psychology and treatment when actual humane care began to give actual help to the mentally ill in contrast from evil care. Treatment was beginning to take course into a better environment within mental hospitals, as well as gender roles began to take a toll of equality in these
mental illness from ancient times to the new millennium. N.J.: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Today, it is less of a social stigma to announce and therefore to seek treatment for a mental disorder. The advances in the past century that stemmed from in-depth study of mental disorders have included the identification and naming of more specific mental diseases. Long gone are the days where the insane were all classified as either psychotic, schizophrenic, or in some sort of post-traumatic condition and therefore confined to solitary confinement, deemed as a lost-cause case to be removed from society. I believe that our culture has created a more accepting environment than the bias of the Fifties and Sixties towards individuals with mental illnesses since some of the mystery, and thus some of the fear, has been removed.