Mental Health Care
Braidie LeClair
Background:
A mental illness can be defined as “a health condition that changes a person’s thinking, feelings, or behavior (or all three) and that causes the person distress and difficulty in functioning.”Mental illnesses come in a variety of forms with severity ranging from mild and manageable to so severe the afflicted cannot independently function.[1]. The history of mental healthcare extends as far back as 5000 B.C.E. during the Neolithic Era. Early man believed that mental illness was a result of a supernatural phenomenon (sorcery, demonic possession, an angry deity, etc.) and adopted somewhat barbaric methods in treating these unseen afflictions. The practice of “Trephining”became a common treatment for the afflicted. During this treatment, a hole was chipped into the patient’s skull using barbaric stone instruments, believing that it would allow for the evil spirit causing the illness to be released from the afflicted[2]. While the mortality rate of this treatment was rather significant, some who underwent this treatment were able to survive and live for years after[3].
As societies began to develop and become rapidly more technologically advanced, the treatments and knowledge regarding the mentally ill stayed stagnant. Ancient Mesopotamians, Persians, and Hebrews believed that mental illness was a result of either a demonic possession or a punishment for a higher spiritual power. Exorcisms, prayer, purification of one’s mind, and various other mystical rituals were utilized as treatments. The first ancient society to adopt innovative techniques to treat the mentally ill wasancient Egypt. Egyptians treated the mentally ill using treatments such as prescribed recreational activities to achieve a sense of normalcy. While they still considered mental illness to be an affliction from a supernatural power, they were very likely the first society to recognize the brain as the site of mental functions[4].
Turning Point:
Ancient Greek philosopher and physician Hippocrates was the first physician to investigate and recognize that supernatural forces or entities did not cause mental illness. Hippocrates innovatively developed a holistic scheme for viewing health and sickness.The scheme included madness, which is the ideathat overall wellness stemmed from natural occurrences, especially pathology in the brain[5]. Hippocrates introduced the theory of the Four Essential Fluids(blood, phlegm, bile and black bile), which combined to form the personalities and health of individuals.Mental illness was a result of an imbalance of these fluids. Hippocrates encouraged little medical intervention and preferred to prescribe his patients treatments such as diet, exercise, and wine to enable the natural healing process to occur.[6]He was the first physician to fully recognize the lack of mystical forces involved in psychiatric madness. In one of his published journals, “The Ancient Medicine,” Hippocrates said “The nature and construction of the parts within a man are of a like nature; the bladder, the head, the uterus in woman; these parts clearly attract”[7]. This conceptwas the first theory to last for a significant duration of time and fullyaccredit the cause of mental illness to natural forces. Patients were treated using physical remedies such as laxatives, blood extraction (via leeches or extraction through the forehead),or following customized diets to treat their ailment.
Effect:
Hippocrates was the first physician to not accredit mental illness to a supernatural force but rather a natural imbalance or ailment of some sort. His theories and research paved the way for continued advancement from medieval Islamic and Christian medicine with a continued focus on the natural causes behind madness, depression and other mental afflictions[8]. His curiosity and innovative research created the foundation of modern mental healthcare and acted as a platform for future doctors and scientists to build and structure their research and explorations off of.Modern statistics reveal that worldwide, 1-in-4 people will be affected with some type of mental or neurological disorder in their lifetimes [9], and without Hippocrates’ early formulation of a theory based on science, the quality of care and the progress the medical world has achieved would be greatly hindered or altered.This understanding mental illness allowed for modernized and innovative treatment methods to develop such as mental hospitals, psychiatric medications, and a shift in social perception that those with mental disorders were sick, not possessed. This deviation in thoughtallowed for the responsibility of care and treatment to eventuallyshift from humanistic physicians and religious healers to actual medical physicians. Many religions, provided solace for the mentally disturbed through regular church or religious ceremony attendance and through prayer and repentance.[10], The accreditation of psychological illness to a physical, worldly force allowed for a gradual shift in thought that the mentally disturbed werenot merely possessed, hopeless cases andthrough treatment and physicianintervention the mentally ill could achieve mental wellness.
Hippocrates’realized that the previously conceived idea of physical origin of mental illness could be explained by chemical and physical elements instead.to mental disorders didn’t anticipate every controversial aspect of mental healthcare that has arisen in the past. The treatment of patients from physicians who utilized occasionally barbaric and cruel treatments (e.g. electroshock therapy), the social stigmas associated with mental illness, the upkeep and policies held by asylums and mental care hospitals,and the overall quality of life for those with mental illnesses has experienced great criticism[11]. Entire revolutions of thought and practice from mental health professionals have radically altered the care and perception of those with mental illnesses since Hippocrates’ era.It was his revolutionary ideas and curiosity to seek a more physical cause for such common disorders that has permitted this change in care and is the backbone to modernized mental health care.
[1]National Institute of Health, “Information about Mental Illness and the Brain”, 2005.
[2]Millon, Theodore. Masters of the Mind. Hoboken: John Wiley and Sons, 2004. Pg, 7
[3]Foerschner, Allison M, The History of Mental Illness: From "Skull Drills" to "Happy Pills", 2010
[4]Foerschner, Allison M, The History of Mental Illness: From "Skull Drills" to "Happy Pills", 2010
[5]Porter, Roy. Madness: A Brief History. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002.
[6]Ghaemi, SN, “Toward a Hippocratic Psychopharmacology”, Emory University, 2008
[7]Hippocrates. On Ancient Medicine. Trans. Francis Adams. N.p.: n.p., 400 B.C.E.
[8]Porter, Roy. Madness: A Brief History. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002.
[9]"Mental disorders affect one in four people." World Health Organization,Oct. 2001
[10]Foerschner, Allison M, The History of Mental Illness: From "Skull Drills" to "Happy Pills", 2010
[11]Foucalt, Michel. Madness and Civilization: A History of Insanity in the Age of Reason.Pantheon Books, 1977.
Bibliography
Foerschner, Allison M, The History of Mental Illness: From "Skull Drills" to "Happy Pills",2010, Vol. 2 No. 09 | pg. 1/4,
http://www.studentpulse.com/articles/283/the-history-of-mental- illness-from-skull-drills-to-happy-pills
Foucalt, Michel. Madness and Civilization: A History of Insanity in the Age of
Reason. London: Pantheon Books, 1977. Print.
Ghaemi, SN. "Toward a Hippocratic Psychopharmacology." PubMed.Gov (2008):
186-96. PubMed.Gov. Web. 17 Apr. 2013. <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
pubmed/18441665>.
Hippocrates. On Ancient Medicine. Trans. Francis Adams. N.p.: n.p., 400 B.C.E.
Classics.Mit.edu. Web. 17 Apr. 2013. <http://classics.mit.edu/
Browse/index-Hippocrates.html>.
"Mental disorders affect one in four people." World Health Organization. NMH
Communications, 4 Oct. 2001. Web. 17 Apr. 2013. <http://www.who.int/whr/
2001/media_centre/press_release/en/>.
Millon, Theodore. Masters of the Mind. Hoboken: John Wiley and Sons, 2004.
Print.
Porter, Roy. Madness: A Brief History. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002.
Print.
"The Science of Mental Illness." The Science of Mental Health. National
Institute of Mental Health, 2005. Web. 17 Apr. 2013.
<http://science.education.nih.gov/supplements/nih5/mental/guide/
nih_mental_curr-supp.pdf>.
Braidie LeClair
Background:
A mental illness can be defined as “a health condition that changes a person’s thinking, feelings, or behavior (or all three) and that causes the person distress and difficulty in functioning.”Mental illnesses come in a variety of forms with severity ranging from mild and manageable to so severe the afflicted cannot independently function.[1]. The history of mental healthcare extends as far back as 5000 B.C.E. during the Neolithic Era. Early man believed that mental illness was a result of a supernatural phenomenon (sorcery, demonic possession, an angry deity, etc.) and adopted somewhat barbaric methods in treating these unseen afflictions. The practice of “Trephining”became a common treatment for the afflicted. During this treatment, a hole was chipped into the patient’s skull using barbaric stone instruments, believing that it would allow for the evil spirit causing the illness to be released from the afflicted[2]. While the mortality rate of this treatment was rather significant, some who underwent this treatment were able to survive and live for years after[3].
As societies began to develop and become rapidly more technologically advanced, the treatments and knowledge regarding the mentally ill stayed stagnant. Ancient Mesopotamians, Persians, and Hebrews believed that mental illness was a result of either a demonic possession or a punishment for a higher spiritual power. Exorcisms, prayer, purification of one’s mind, and various other mystical rituals were utilized as treatments. The first ancient society to adopt innovative techniques to treat the mentally ill wasancient Egypt. Egyptians treated the mentally ill using treatments such as prescribed recreational activities to achieve a sense of normalcy. While they still considered mental illness to be an affliction from a supernatural power, they were very likely the first society to recognize the brain as the site of mental functions[4].
Turning Point:
Ancient Greek philosopher and physician Hippocrates was the first physician to investigate and recognize that supernatural forces or entities did not cause mental illness. Hippocrates innovatively developed a holistic scheme for viewing health and sickness.The scheme included madness, which is the ideathat overall wellness stemmed from natural occurrences, especially pathology in the brain[5]. Hippocrates introduced the theory of the Four Essential Fluids(blood, phlegm, bile and black bile), which combined to form the personalities and health of individuals.Mental illness was a result of an imbalance of these fluids. Hippocrates encouraged little medical intervention and preferred to prescribe his patients treatments such as diet, exercise, and wine to enable the natural healing process to occur.[6]He was the first physician to fully recognize the lack of mystical forces involved in psychiatric madness. In one of his published journals, “The Ancient Medicine,” Hippocrates said “The nature and construction of the parts within a man are of a like nature; the bladder, the head, the uterus in woman; these parts clearly attract”[7]. This conceptwas the first theory to last for a significant duration of time and fullyaccredit the cause of mental illness to natural forces. Patients were treated using physical remedies such as laxatives, blood extraction (via leeches or extraction through the forehead),or following customized diets to treat their ailment.
Effect:
Hippocrates was the first physician to not accredit mental illness to a supernatural force but rather a natural imbalance or ailment of some sort. His theories and research paved the way for continued advancement from medieval Islamic and Christian medicine with a continued focus on the natural causes behind madness, depression and other mental afflictions[8]. His curiosity and innovative research created the foundation of modern mental healthcare and acted as a platform for future doctors and scientists to build and structure their research and explorations off of.Modern statistics reveal that worldwide, 1-in-4 people will be affected with some type of mental or neurological disorder in their lifetimes [9], and without Hippocrates’ early formulation of a theory based on science, the quality of care and the progress the medical world has achieved would be greatly hindered or altered.This understanding mental illness allowed for modernized and innovative treatment methods to develop such as mental hospitals, psychiatric medications, and a shift in social perception that those with mental disorders were sick, not possessed. This deviation in thoughtallowed for the responsibility of care and treatment to eventuallyshift from humanistic physicians and religious healers to actual medical physicians. Many religions, provided solace for the mentally disturbed through regular church or religious ceremony attendance and through prayer and repentance.[10], The accreditation of psychological illness to a physical, worldly force allowed for a gradual shift in thought that the mentally disturbed werenot merely possessed, hopeless cases andthrough treatment and physicianintervention the mentally ill could achieve mental wellness.
Hippocrates’realized that the previously conceived idea of physical origin of mental illness could be explained by chemical and physical elements instead.to mental disorders didn’t anticipate every controversial aspect of mental healthcare that has arisen in the past. The treatment of patients from physicians who utilized occasionally barbaric and cruel treatments (e.g. electroshock therapy), the social stigmas associated with mental illness, the upkeep and policies held by asylums and mental care hospitals,and the overall quality of life for those with mental illnesses has experienced great criticism[11]. Entire revolutions of thought and practice from mental health professionals have radically altered the care and perception of those with mental illnesses since Hippocrates’ era.It was his revolutionary ideas and curiosity to seek a more physical cause for such common disorders that has permitted this change in care and is the backbone to modernized mental health care.
[1]National Institute of Health, “Information about Mental Illness and the Brain”, 2005.
[2]Millon, Theodore. Masters of the Mind. Hoboken: John Wiley and Sons, 2004. Pg, 7
[3]Foerschner, Allison M, The History of Mental Illness: From "Skull Drills" to "Happy Pills", 2010
[4]Foerschner, Allison M, The History of Mental Illness: From "Skull Drills" to "Happy Pills", 2010
[5]Porter, Roy. Madness: A Brief History. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002.
[6]Ghaemi, SN, “Toward a Hippocratic Psychopharmacology”, Emory University, 2008
[7]Hippocrates. On Ancient Medicine. Trans. Francis Adams. N.p.: n.p., 400 B.C.E.
[8]Porter, Roy. Madness: A Brief History. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002.
[9]"Mental disorders affect one in four people." World Health Organization,Oct. 2001
[10]Foerschner, Allison M, The History of Mental Illness: From "Skull Drills" to "Happy Pills", 2010
[11]Foucalt, Michel. Madness and Civilization: A History of Insanity in the Age of Reason.Pantheon Books, 1977.
Bibliography
Foerschner, Allison M, The History of Mental Illness: From "Skull Drills" to "Happy Pills",2010, Vol. 2 No. 09 | pg. 1/4,
http://www.studentpulse.com/articles/283/the-history-of-mental- illness-from-skull-drills-to-happy-pills
Foucalt, Michel. Madness and Civilization: A History of Insanity in the Age of
Reason. London: Pantheon Books, 1977. Print.
Ghaemi, SN. "Toward a Hippocratic Psychopharmacology." PubMed.Gov (2008):
186-96. PubMed.Gov. Web. 17 Apr. 2013. <http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
pubmed/18441665>.
Hippocrates. On Ancient Medicine. Trans. Francis Adams. N.p.: n.p., 400 B.C.E.
Classics.Mit.edu. Web. 17 Apr. 2013. <http://classics.mit.edu/
Browse/index-Hippocrates.html>.
"Mental disorders affect one in four people." World Health Organization. NMH
Communications, 4 Oct. 2001. Web. 17 Apr. 2013. <http://www.who.int/whr/
2001/media_centre/press_release/en/>.
Millon, Theodore. Masters of the Mind. Hoboken: John Wiley and Sons, 2004.
Print.
Porter, Roy. Madness: A Brief History. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002.
Print.
"The Science of Mental Illness." The Science of Mental Health. National
Institute of Mental Health, 2005. Web. 17 Apr. 2013.
<http://science.education.nih.gov/supplements/nih5/mental/guide/
nih_mental_curr-supp.pdf>.