Treatment of the Mentally Ill

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Some of the most painful and torturous of all illnesses are those of the mind. There are many of instances of insanity among humans throughout history, some dating back to around 400 B.C. (PBS). These people were not considered human, but instead they were looked at as animals. There were several attempts to “cure” people of this kind, yet most were inhumane and brutal forms of torture. Many times, especially in early history, these people would be locked away and treated as if they had no purpose but to waste space. The way mentally insane people were treated throughout history was brutal and horrific.

In the early years dating back to 400 B.C. In ancient Egypt, Greece, India, and Rome there are writings of mentally ill people being described as “demonically possessed” ("Greeks & Romans."). For example, in the stone age, they believed people to be possessed with demons and they would drill a hole into the affected persons skull to give the demons a way of passage out of the body. The ancient Egyptians felt the same way about mentally ill being demonically possessed, but instead of drilling a hole in the skull they would treat them physically with herbal medicines and things such as that. ("Ancient Egypt.") Yet in the Greek civilizations, disorders of the mind would be considered dishonorable and the affected would more than likely be shunned. There was, though, one mind who thought differently. Hippocrates was a well known philosopher. He believed that mentally ill people had a disease of the brain rather than the popular belief that they had insulted and brought anger to the gods. He disagreed completely with the treatment of the mental and the punishments they were given, mostly because he believed they had n...

... middle of paper ...

...ology and treatments have made strides to improvement of treatments. The health and improvement of the mental state of those with mental illness are improving and should continue to show improvement.

Works Cited

"Ancient Egypt." Treatment of the Mentally Ill. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Nov. 2013.

"Desperado Philosophy." Desperado Philosophy. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Nov. 2013.

"Diseases of the Mind: Highlights of American Psychiatry through 1900 - Benjamin Rush." U.S

National Library of Medicine. U.S. National Library of Medicine, 17 Sept. 2013. Web. 18

Nov. 2013.

"Greeks & Romans." Treatment of the Mentally Ill. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Nov. 2013.

PBS. PBS, n.d. Web. 07 Nov. 2013.

"Stone Age." Treatment of the Mentally Ill. N.p., n.d. Web. 07 Nov. 2013.

"26d. Prison and Asylum Reform." Prison and Asylum Reform [ushistory.org]. N.p., n.d. Web. 18

Nov. 2013.

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