Mental Illnesses In The 1800s

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Recommended: ESSAY ON THE HISTORY OF MENTAL HEALTH

Before the 1850's, physical and mental health professionals believed that maintaining healthy physical conditions were the main priority when trying to prevent mental illness (National Library of Scotland, 2007). For many years people thought that all mental illnesses were the result of poor physical health. With this idea, the British had the authority to define what was "insane", even if that meant overstepping cultural boundaries and norms. Because of cultural differences, the English who occupied India took advantage of the indigenous Indians and their culture and tried to punish the "disobedient", whenever they showed no sign of full assimilation to British culture (National Library of Scotland, 2007). Thus the asylums in India were not

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