The History of Treating Mental Illness

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The treatment of the mentally ill started back in the far past. In 400 BC, Hippocrates, who was a Greek physician, treated mental illness as diseases of disturbed physiology, and not displeasure of the Gods or demonic possession ("Timeline: Treatments for," ). Greek medical writers found treatments such as quiet, occupation, and the use of a drug called purgative hellebore ("Timeline: Treatments for,”). During these times, family members took care of the mentally ill ("Timeline: Treatments for,”). In the middle Ages, the Europeans let the mentally ill have their freedom, as long as they were not dangerous ("Timeline: Treatments for,”). The mentally ill were also seen as witches who were possessed by demons ("Timeline: Treatments for,”). In 1407, the first mental illness establishment was made in Valencia, Spain ("Timeline: Treatments for,”).
In the 1600s, Europeans began to isolate the mentally ill, where they were kept with the handicapped and delinquents ("Timeline: Treatments for," ). The mentally ill who were seen as insane were treated cruelly, they were often chained to walls and kept away in dungeons ("Timeline: Treatments for,”). In the late 1700s, After the French Revolution, French physician Phillippe Pinel took over the Bicêtre insane asylum and changed the rules ("Timeline: Treatments for,”). He forbid the use of shackles, took patients out of the dungeons, gave them sunny rooms, and let them roam the ground for exercise ("Timeline: Treatments for," ). Although Pinel changed the rules of Bicêtre, mistreatment still persisted in other places in Europe ("Timeline: Treatments for,”).
In the 1840s, Dorothea Dix observed the mentally ill in Massachusetts and saw how cruelly they were being treated ("Timeline: Treatments ...

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...ally ill. I went into the field to help those who need it. I only hope that once others are more informed that they will want to help others as I do.

Works Cited

Arehart-Treichel, J. (2013). Future looks promising for mental illness prevention. PsychiatryOnline Psychiatric News.
Borinstein, A. B. (1992). Public attitudes toward persons with mental illness. Health Affairs, 11(3), 186-196.
Kobau, R., Zack, M. M., Manderscheid, R., Palpant, R. G., Morales, D. S., Luncheon, C., et al. (2005). Attitudes toward mental illness. CDC.
Lieberman, J. A. (2003). History of the use of antidepressants in primary care. Psychiatrist.
Olley, B. O., & Kola, L. (2005). The british journal of psychiatry. Community study of knowledge of and attitude to mental illness in Nigeria.
Our History. (n.d.). Mental Health America.
Timeline: Treatments for mental illness. (n.d.). PBS.

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