More handpicked essays just for you.
History Of Mental Illness During The Late 19Th Century
Essay On History Of Mental Illness
History Of Mental Illness During The Late 19Th Century
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Mental illness is referred to as a wide range of conditions that affects the mind, mood, and behaviors that are abnormal to normalcy. Many people in the past thought mental illness was the cause of by supernatural beings in relations to evil spirits or demons. The treatments that were used to rid the evil spirit out of the body were exorcism and trephining the skull until Hippocrates used scientific reasoning to assess and treat those abnormalities that he thought were all natural causes during the 3rd century BC. In the 1500s to 1600s, the English Crown made it a duty to protect the mentally impaired and place them into two categories, the fools ( those with intellectual disabilities) and the non compos mentis ( all mental disabilities). Institutions and asylums were created for the particular groups. However, the environmental conditions and treatments that many mental illness people received were poor and ineffective. They severely degraded and mistreated inhumanely with shackles and vertical bars. …show more content…
Many people advocate for a more humane treatment within the institutions. Phillip Pinel was an individual that took physical actions and “unchained 50 maniacs at the Bicetres Hospital in Paris. This period is often called the first revolution in mental health” ( Woodside & McClam, 2017, p.61). There were many other pioneers who contributed to better treatments for people. with mental illness. Dr. Benjamin Rush revolutionized the study of mental illness and introduced Occupational Therapy and a variety of activities. Dorothea Dix was determined to improve the treatments and services for people with mental illness by advocating for them and providing findings to hospitals to make the necessary
The mentally ill was mistreated, beaten, thrown into unclean quarters, and even taken advantage of before the 1800's. They was viewed as helpless individuals. Society and the government viewed them as criminals and deemed them incurable. During the 1800's a pioneer named Dorothea Dix brought about a change dealing with the treatment of the mentally ill. She became the voice of them something they never had.
But if you were different, suffering from a mental disability, you would have been given the job title of Court Jester or Village Idiot. Society mocked intellectually disabled individuals because they were different from the norm, but that is not the worst of it. Carter and VanAndel (2011) leading professionals in the field of Therapeutic Recreation explain the appalling treatment of the mentally disabled during the Middle Ages. These individuals were locked away in dank, dark cells within the walls of the dungeon, hidden from society, (p. 29) all the while tethered to the wall like a wild animal. Even though the times were primitive, little regard or medical attention was awarded to the mentally disabled. French Physician, Philippe Pinel (1745-1826) did not like the treatment the mentally ill received so he decided to advocate on their behalf. He felt all individuals had the right to live as productive members of society. Carter and VanAndel highlight how Pinel ventured out to change the living conditions for the intellectually disabled. (p. 30) Unfortunately, during the Victorian Era society felt demon possession caused the mental illness. In some instances, individuals were killed in the process of exorcism. Many years later intellectually disabled individuals were housed in prisons with murderers and thieves. They were treated like common criminals just because they were different. In later years, they were segregated from society and institutionalized. (Carter & VanAndel, 2011, p. 31) Throughout the years, the treatment of the mentally disabled individuals changed. Today, in some areas the mentally disabled are still segregated; however, the stigma is still present. They attend schools that are specifically designed to support their needs and teachers trained to instruct individuals with disabilities. The living conditions have also
Throughout the Great Depression the mentally disabled were treated harshly and were almost constantly being harassed by society. The mentally ill were treated in this cruel manner because they were seen as the cause of some of society’s problems of that day in age. Also, society viewed them as less capable of human being. A physician of that time by the name of Alexis Carrel stated, “The mentally ill should be humanely and economically disposed of in small euthanistic institutions supplied with the proper gases” (Freeman; “Treatment of the…”). Not only did Alexis Carrel feel this way, but so did many other people of the United States way
As the stigma against the mentally ill grew, societies across the world began to remove them from the community. Insane asylums became the primary source of treatment for those with severe mental illnesses. While the intention was to alleviate the burden on society, these institutions were ramped with cruelty and mistreatment of those with mental illness. The cruelty endured by the mentally ill spanned well over a century and most of western society. Asylums locked up individual in overcrowded unsanitary condition. These individuals were often used as test subject without consent for some of the cruelest treatments of mental illness.
Dorothea Dix played a major role in improving the treatment of the mentally ill but also suffered many consequences as a result. Having a teaching background, she first took an interest in treating the mentally ill when she accepted a job teaching inmates in an East Cambridge prison, which was at a time when jails were considered a solution for many issues, including housing the mentally ill with no treatment. While teaching there she realized the actions of the workers towards the criminals were inhumane, unfair, and unbearable. She then began visiting many public and private mental illness facilities and documented all that she observed, finding that the conditions were very unsatisfactory. She decided to fight against the conditions even though she knew she would get punished for it, in the hopes to provide treatment for the mentally ill. As a result of all her actions, more funding and expansion of potential hospital institutions and the treatment of the mentally ill was instituted.
In the late 19th century, large institutional asylums were inundated with patients and there was insufficient financial support from the government to properly operate these hospitals. As a result, there was no time to provide individualized treatment for each patient suffering with mental illness and many were incarcerated. The 19th century zeitgeist, viewed the mentally ill as feeble minded, incapable of functioning in society, and unhygienic. Also, Darwin’s theory of “survival of the fittest” led to a lack of social commitment to promote moral treatment for the mentally ill. During the early 20th century, a diverse group of professionals in North America including Adolf Meyer emphasized the importance of a moral treatment approach to promote caring characteristics for ill and disabled people. In particular, Meyer created the psychobiology theory which became one of the most insightful and significant approaches to understanding mental illness. Meyer believed that humans are best understood when you take into consideration their daily activities over the lifespan, thus creating the paradigm known as Occupational Therapy (Kielhofner, 2009, p. 17).
The BBC documentary, Mental: A History of the Madhouse, delves into Britain’s mental asylums and explores not only the life of the patients in these asylums, but also explains some of the treatments used on such patients (from the early 1950s to the late 1990s). The attitudes held against mental illness and those afflicted by it during the time were those of good intentions, although the vast majority of treatments and aid being carried out against the patients were anything but “good”. In 1948, mental health began to be included in the NHS (National Health Service) as an actual medical condition, this helped to bring mental disabilities under the umbrella of equality with all other medical conditions; however, asylums not only housed people
The most common definition of mental illness is a condition that affects a person’s behavior, mood, or thought processes. In the past century the field of psychology which studies and attempts to understand how humans think, has made tremendous progress and much needed improvement. Treatment of the mentally ill has also improved since Victorian times. As science becomes more advanced, further insight into the human mind is discovered and beliefs that used to hold true are disproved. The Victorian times are described as, “a period in which the sexual impulse was systematically repressed and deformed” (Rosenberg, Charles E 132). This is saying that during the Victorian times, anything related to sex was seen as immoral and was not allowed. Any
Two hundred years ago, Pennsylvania revolutionized the mental health care movement. Benjamin Rush, a Philadelphia doctor made a suggestion to his fellow colleagues about individuals suffering from mental disorders. Instead of treating individuals with mental disorders as a sign of demon possession or confused soul, treat their disorder as an illness. In the late 1800's, another Philadelphia doctor caught wind of Rush's idea to treat mental illness. Thomas Kirkbride believed the insane, as they were called in nineteeth century, deserved humane treatment. After this realization, the asylum movement took place in Pennsylvania. Individuals suffering from mental disorders were taken out of their inhumane circumstances an...
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.
The first criticisms of psychiatry occurred towards the end of the XVII century (Norman, 1940). At this time, the mentally ill were put in mental institutions to be alienated and separated from society, because they were se...
History shows that signs of mental illness and abnormal behavior have been documented as far back as the early Greeks however, it was not viewed the same as it is today. The mentally ill were previously referred to as mad, insane, lunatics, or maniacs. W.B. Maher and B.A. Maher (1985) note how many of the terms use had roots in old English words that meant emotionally deranged, hurt, unhealthy, or diseased. Although early explanations were not accurate, the characteristics of the mentally ill have remained the same and these characteristics are used to diagnose disorders to date. Cultural norms have always been used to assess and define abnormal behavior. Currently, we have a decent understanding of the correlates and influences of mental illness. Although we do not have complete knowledge, psychopathologists have better resources, technology, and overall research skills than those in ancient times.
It is said that madness dates all the way back to the beginning of the human race. Support for this theory is given by skulls dating back to 3000 BC, which were founded by archaeologists (Porter, 2004). They had small round holes carved in them with the use of flint tools, suggesting that the person was thought to be possessed by devils, and that the holes would allow the demons to escape (Porter, 2004). It was commonly believed that those who suffered from mental illness suffered because they had a ‘disease of the soul’ (Goldberg, 1999). Their madness was theoretically said to come from an evil within, and they were as a result of this treated as animals. In the sixteenth century, there was much secrecy surrounding madness, and although it was an issue that was very much present, it was not openly talked about. It was seen as a sin and the behaviour which people would sometimes view as animalistic would bring shame to the family. The topic of mental health in general and people with mental illnesses we...
There is a common belief that surrounds the church today that mental illness is not an illness that can be fixed or even needs treatment. Instead of an illness it is often seen as sin in the person, an attitude problem, or a curse from God Himself. However if this same person has a broken limb, is injured, diseased, or has cancer somewhere in their body, they can go to the doctor, people have compassion and pray for them, and they can typically get fixed without judgment. The Philosophy of Mental Illness is an interdisciplinary area of study concerning the philosophy of mind and psychology in order to analyze the nature of mental illness. Philosophers of mental illness are apprehensive with examining the ontological, epistemological, and normative productions arising from varying conceptions of mental illness that may be tied into the Church.