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History of mental illness treatment essay
Strengths and limitations of the psychiatric classification system
History of mental illness treatment essay
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Treatment for psychological disorders has progressed and changed significantly throughout history. Prior to the 1900's the primary treatment consisted of exorcisms, rituals, and torture as a way to chase out the devil. This practice gave way to locking patients up in asylums with deplorable conditions, until some reforms came in the late 1700's and continued into the late 1800's. The early 1900's brought out Freud's "talking cures" that developed into further psychological therapies right alongside the biomedical therapies, such as, electroconvulsive therapy, psychopharmacology and psychosurgery. Prior to the classifications of mental illness that began in 1883, all mentally ill patients were treated the same, whether they were violent, schizophrenic or manic depressive, it did not matter; all patients were treated as if they were possessed by the devil (Harmon 19). Treatment for possession included exorcisms and other religious rituals as well as physical torture. During the 1600's mental patients were increasingly isolated from the rest of the population in asylums. Patients in these institutions lived in deplorable conditions, often stuck in dungeons, or chained to walls. In some places, like "Bedlam" in London patients were put on display as entertainment for citizens. It was not until the late 1700's and into the late 1800's that reforms in asylums led to more humane treatment of patients. When Philippe Pinel took over Bicêtre insane asylum he insisted that "madness is not demon possession but a sickness of the mind caused by severe stresses and inhumane conditions" (Myers 601). With this in mind, Pinel negated the use of chains, shackles, torturous treatments such as bloodletting, and instead used gentleness, daily ac... ... middle of paper ... ...ts are treated humanely and receive the necessary therapies to ensure they are not a threat to themselves or to others. There hasn't been the discovery of a magical cure for those suffering from psychological disorders, but through research and dedication the treatment and control of these disorders has improved significantly and continues to do so every day. Works Cited Page "Brain Stimulation Therapies." NIMH RSS. N.p. n.d. web. 18 Feb. 2014. Harmon, Daniel E. "Mental Illness: A History." The Tortured Mind: The Many Faces of Manic Depression. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers, 1998. 19. Print. Myers, David G. Psychology in Modules, Ninth Edition. New York: Worth. 2010. Print. "Psychotherapies." NIMH RSS. N.p. n.d. web. 18 Feb. 2014. "Timeline: Treatments for Mental Illness." PBS. PBS. n.d. web. 19 Feb. 2014.
Leupo, Kimberly. "The History of Mental Illness." The History of Mental Illness. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2013.
The traditional approach to the care of the mentally ill during the last 200 years was custodial, rather than therapeutic. This approach to “Psychiatric Care Delivery System” was introduced in India from Britain . Mental hospitals were established in isolated areas, often on the outskirts with the object of segregating the patient as troublesome and dangerous to their neighbors. The overriding concern was to protect the citizens without regard for appropriate care and cure of the ailing patients. As a consequence of this objective of the mental hospitals, the quality of care in such hospitals had been very poor. The inmates were subjected to indignity and humiliation for an indefinite period, and once admitted never recovered, or rehabilitated back in their family, but doomed to the inevitable end. The stigma of mental illness thus prevailed.
In the Earley book, the author started to talk about the history of mental illness in prison. The mentally ill people were commonly kept in local jails, where they were treated worse than animals. State mental hospitals were typically overcrowded and underfunded. Doctors had very little oversight and often abused their authority. Dangerous experimental treatments were often tested on inmates.
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
The treatments at the hospitals that specialized in curing the insane were often done for the benefit of the staff, not the pat...
As medical advances are being made, it makes the treating of diseases easier and easier. Mental hospitals have changed the way the treat a patient’s illness considerably compared to the hospital described in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.
In the 1840’s, the United States started to build public insane asylums instead of placing the insane in almshouses or jail. Before this, asylums were maintained mostly by religious factions whose main goal was to purify the patient (Hartford 1). By the 1870’s, the conditions of these public insane asylums were very unhealthy due to a lack of funding. The actions of Elizabeth J. Cochrane (pen name Nellie Bly), during her book “Ten Days in a Mad-House,” significantly heightened the conditions of these mental asylums during the late 1800s.
Moral treatment is a treatment that uses “psychological methods” to treat mental diseases (Packet Two, 26). In general, moral treatment was a relatively benevolent and humane approach to treat mental disorders. Before the introduction of moral treatment, insane people were regarded by the general public as wild animals whose brains were physically impaired and usually incurable (Packet One, 11). Therefore, regardless of patients’ specific symptoms, physicians generally labeled patients as lunatics and treated them with the same method (Packet One, 11). Because of the perceived impossibility of curing mental illness, physicians put far greater emphasis on restraining patients’ potential danger behaviors than striving to bring them back to sanity. Cruel methods such as bloodletting were widely used, but their effectiveness was really poor. Moral treatment was a response to this ineffective and brutal traditional treatment. The advocates of moral treatment insisted that mental diseases were curable. By providing a friendly environment that contributed to reviving, moral treatment could help patients to...
Another man involved was the Dr. John Galt he himself worked at one of these insane asylums as the superintendent of the Eastern State Hospital in Williamsburg. Although there was a stream of terrible abuse in the asylum and prison movement towards the sick and insane he was one of the few that treated his patients with care he had very little use for restraints and preferred a calming medication. He was also the first influence in
Once science took place and changed people 's view of God, they realized that mental illness were not punishments, but this didn 't stop people from treating them in a hateful way. According to Kyziridis, people who weren 't considered normal, because of mental illness were treated as if they were caused by evil possession of the body, and the appropriate treatment was then exorcising these demons, through various ways, from harmless treatments to dangerous and barbaric (Kyziridis). Some example would be listening to music or dancing that will calm a patient down. Others would be through strapping them down and create pain. "The term 'schizophrenia ' was coined on April 24, 1908, when Professor Bleuler argued that dementia praecox was associated with neither dementia nor precociousness, and emphasized that splitting of psychic functioning is an essential feature of schizophrenia" (Ashok). He observed the patients and lived between them to see how they reacted to things. People with schizophrenia were constantly battling within the voices inside their heads, unfortunately treatments for it were
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
For many decades the mentally ill or insane have been hated, shunned, and discriminated against by the world. They have been thrown into cruel facilities, said to help cure their mental illnesses, where they were tortured, treated unfairly, and given belittling names such as retards, insane, demons, and psychos. However, reformers such as Dorothea Dix thought differently of these people and sought to help them instead. She saw the inhumanity in these facilities known as insane asylums or mental institutions, and showed the world the evil that wandered inside these asylums. Although movements have been made to improve conditions in insane asylums, and were said to help and treat the mentally ill, these brutally abusive places were full of disease and disorder, and were more like concentration camps similar to those in Europe during WWII than hospitals.
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.
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.
Families of the mental usually did the treatment for mental disorders in Colonial America, ill or by private caretakers. Institutionalization began during the eighteenth century; people with mental disorders were placed in undifferentiated poorhouses or almshouses which were locally run public institutions for the mentally ill or crippled. Towards the second half of the 20th century this kind of treatment was replaced by moral treatment which was treatment based on the theory that environmental changes could affect an individual’s mind and consequently altering their behavior. Mentally ill persons w...