History of Mental Health
The history of mental health encompasses the evolution of societal attitudes, beliefs, and treatments related to mental illness. It has evolved from ancient beliefs of supernatural causes to modern understandings rooted in scientific research and evidence-based practices. Throughout history, various cultures and time periods have shaped the understanding and treatment of mental health conditions.
8 Key excerpts on "History of Mental Health"
eBook - ePub- Jo Augustus, Justine Bold, Briony Williams(Authors)
- 2019(Publication Date)
- SAGE Publications Ltd(Publisher)
...1 A History of Mental Health Briony Williams Justine Bold Learning Objectives After studying this chapter you will be able to: understand the History of Mental Health from a bio-psycho-social perspective; understand specific interventions that were used in the treatment of mental health conditions; consider how history has helped shape and develop current mental health practices. Introduction In the past there have been many explanations for understanding mental illness including possession by the devil and punishment by a god, curses of witches or wizards and also physical causes such as bad humors and an imbalance of chemicals. The ancient Greek writer Homer interpreted the ‘irrational’ elements in human nature as an interference by the gods. In some cultures today these explanations still exist. Psychological explanations did not emerge until fairly recently. These biological, social and psychological theories about the origins of mental illness influenced and directed the treatments and services. New treatments were generally developed because of expanding knowledge and changing societal views. However, where people were cared for (i.e. at home, in the community, hospital or in an asylum) was influenced by societal views of mental illness. Biological, psychological and social explanations gained power at different times in history and at some points in history competed for supremacy. There are still biological, psychological and social theories of the origins of mental health problems, which make the causes of mental illness difficult to understand. Modern-day psychiatry is criticised for having a primarily biological understanding of mental illness (Scull 2014). The rise in biological psychiatry is viewed by Bentall (2004) as ‘owing more to politics and financial interests of drug companies than to science and evidence’ (p. 173)...
eBook - ePub- Sarah Nettleton(Author)
- 2020(Publication Date)
- Polity(Publisher)
...The treatment of depression with medications from the late 1950s is indicative of the so-called ‘pharmaceutical revolution’ and subsequent biomedicalization (Clarke et al., 2003). The emergence of a plethora of practitioners who work in the field of psychological health care burgeoned from the late 1970s (Rose, 1985, 1998). Current concerns revolve around the increased levels of psychiatric morbidity among young people and the rising levels of dementia, both locally and globally (McManus et al., 2016). Mental health and mental illness are personal matters, but also public issues, best understood from the vantage point of a sociohistorical context (Mill, 1959). The aim of this chapter is to encourage critical sociological reflection on psychological issues by exploring how definitions of mental health, mental illness and medical disorders are variously constructed, and how these health-related matters are managed over time. We begin by introducing current definitions of mental health, and then move on to take a long view of modern and late modern approaches to mental health matters. In particular, we will see how spatial segregation of those deemed to be ‘insane’ was crucial to the emergence of contemporary understandings of mental illness and mental health. It was in the asylums of the late nineteenth century that psychiatric knowledge was forged and where diagnostic categories of diseases were developed. The sociology of psychiatric nosology (the study of disease classification) is therefore central to this field, as are the more traditional sociological approaches of ‘labelling’ (or ‘societal reaction theory’) and ‘social causation theories’...
eBook - ePubAging and God
Spiritual Pathways to Mental Health in Midlife and Later Years
- William M Clements, Harold G Koenig(Authors)
- 2014(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...Chapter 1 The History of Psychiatry and Religion DOI: 10.4324/9781315820422-2 The most important of more recent events-that 'God is dead,' that the belief in the Christian God has become unworthy of belief-already begins to cast its first shadows over Europe. —Friedrich Nietzsche In 1828, Webster's Dictionary defined psychology as "A discourse or treatise on the human soul; or the doctrine of the nature and properties of the soul." The separation of medicine and psychiatry from religion has only been a relatively recent phenomenon. Both medicine and the mental health professions have their origins in religion and spiritual practice. The first recorded history of health and illness can be found in the writings of the Mesopotamians and Egyptians almost 5000 years ago. Illness was viewed in religious terms, felt to be connected with sin, and was treated almost exclusively by priests (Kuhn 1988). Primitive Man In A History of Medical Psychology, Gregory Zilboorg and G. W. Henry (1941) plot the evolution of psychiatry/psychology from its origins in primitive man (no gender implied) through the time of Freud and beyond. In the early days of humanity, there was no separation of illness into physical, mental, and spiritual categories-all sickness was spiritual. In old age, people with either physical or mental illness were often killed off, since they interfered with the movements of early tribes (Koty 1934; Simmons 1945; Glascock & Feinman 1981). As civilization progressed, persons with mental disorder became distinguished from those with physical illness; rather than being pitied, however, they were regarded with fear and imbued with supernatural power. If benign, such persons were revered; if evil, they were endured and placated-the task of the primitive medicine man. Because the insane were viewed as sacred, there was no attempt to "treat" them. In large part, their illness was kept a mystery from the general public, and revealed only to the priest...
eBook - ePubPsychotherapy
The Purchase of Friendship
- William Schofield(Author)
- 2019(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...History may be brought to the defense of arrogance or to the service of humility. One should not ask, “Has there been progress?” Rather, one must ask, “How much progress has there been?” For the question of mental illness and mental health, neglect or distortion of history serves us badly. On the one hand, we have the oft-stated generalization that mental illness is increasing, and that such increase is a function of certain facets of modern society. And again, we are told that we have gained much knowledge and possess increasingly potent means for treatment and prevention of emotional disorders. A careful historical analysis which aims at factual perspective, rather than at either social exhortation or social reassurance, will test the validity of these popular assertions. In this chapter, a brief review shall be made of the concept and treatment of mental illness over the ages, so that a critical evaluation of our current state may be made against the perspective afforded by history. II. The Prevalence of Mental Illness We do not know about the psychology of primitive man in prehistoric time. Paleontology has reconstructed for us something of the physical circumstances of his existence. We know that he inhabited a harsh, uncertain and uncontrollable world. We know that his puny physical capacities, unimplemented except for the crudest of tools and weapons, were arrayed against the violent powers of wind and water and against the brutish hostility of huge predators. Knowing these few, simple facts about prehistoric man and his environment, we can conjecture that he was totally occupied in a daily, all-engaging pursuit of security of limb and maintenance of life. In his earliest and certainly in any precommunal states, he had little time for introspective revery and for the diagnostic question, “Am I unhappy?” Many primitive men were certainly confronted by environments that demanded constant hard work and continued vigilance...
eBook - ePubContesting Psychiatry
Social Movements in Mental Health
- Nick Crossley(Author)
- 2006(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...3 Contextualising contention A potted history of the mental health field In this chapter I offer a schematic outline of the history of psychiatry in the United Kingdom. This serves three purposes. First, it describes the context in which UK mental health politics has emerged, allowing us to identify some of the strains, opportunities and constraints that have shaped it. Second, as a long-term historical survey, it allows us to avoid the myopia that can result from too narrow a temporal frame. The earlier history of psychiatry affords us a point of comparison against which to gauge its more recent political history. Third, it allows us to see that the history of psychiatry is a history of struggle and contention whilst simultaneously laying a foundation that will allow us, later in the book, to appreciate what is novel about contemporary struggles. For reasons of space my account will be brief, schematic and descriptive. I will only be discussing those aspects of psychiatry that I deem necessary to fulfil the three purposes outlined above and only in a ‘scene setting’ manner. The account is adequate to its purposes, however. The beginning Medical models of madness can be traced back, in the history of West, to the ancient Greeks. Although the ancients did not make the same distinction that we make between ‘mental’ and ‘physical’ life, we can find disease categories in the works of such writers as Hippocrates and Galen which incorporate forms of what we now call ‘mental illness’ (Porter 2002). And these writers claimed that such illnesses had organic causes which could be treated medically (ibid.)...
eBook - ePub- Alan Clarke(Author)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...Mental illness is not perceived as a social construct but as something produced within a person, partly as a result of their exposure to particular environmental stresses, socio-economic circumstances or social pressures. The emphasis structurally oriented sociologists place on investigating the nature and impact of the social environment brings them into contact with social psychiatry (Box 3.3). As Henderson (1988) describes, social psychiatry is one of four specialist areas in the study of mental disorder: the other three are psychopath-ology, biological psychiatry and clinical psychiatry. Box 3.3 Definition Social psychiatry Social psychiatry is concerned with the relationship between disorders of the mind and the human environment. It studies the forces which act at the interface between individuals and those around them; and which may contribute to the onset, or influence the course of mental disorders. The social environment extends from immediate others, as in the family, to the wider society. Source : Henderson, 1988 Of the many studies in social psychiatry and sociology that identify links between the prevalence of mental disorder and aspects of social structure, there are a considerable number that focus on social stress or life events as factors capable of contributing to a causal explanation of mental illness. Before considering some of the findings from life-events research three observations need to be made. Firstly, psychiatric disorders, more so than physical diseases, have multiple causes. Therefore, an explanation of the origins and development of a particular mental illness may require drawing on causal models from a number of different disciplines...
eBook - ePubPsychosis Under Discussion
How We Talk About Madness
- Michael Farrell(Author)
- 2017(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...2 Historical Terminology Introduction Here, we look at how terms related to psychiatry and madness may have originated and how they change over time. Firstly, the chapter sets the context by touching on the nature of chronology and outlines a basic timeline relating to mental disorders and psychiatry. After distinguishing between chronology and history, I examine examples of historical interpretation in relation to psychiatry. Turning specifically to terminology, we review the terms ‘mad’, ‘insane’, ‘lunatic’ and ‘maniac’, and reflect on how their use has declined in formal language and the possible reasons for this. The chapter then considers how the classifications of psychosis and related conditions, along with their vocabulary, have developed over time. This involves examining the early contribution of the French School of psychiatry and the work of German-speaking psychiatrists in central Europe and looking at the way that terms such as ‘schizophrenia’ were used by various pioneers of psychiatry. Finally, I look at suggested changes to terminology relating to supposed negative labelling. Chronology and history regarding mental disorders and psychiatry Chronology Chronology concerns events over time and implies placing events in the date order in which they occurred. This activity is comparatively straightforward where there is agreement about the sequence of events. However, such agreement is not always the case, and a preliminary step may be to examine evidence for the ordering of events to make a judgement on the best solution. For example, chronology in the discipline of prehistory was much assisted by the technique of carbon dating of certain materials (Renfrew, 2007). But in historical information too, there may be debate about sequence which chronology has to address with reference to documents and other sources that present a conflicting picture. A further issue that arises is what constitutes an ‘event’...
eBook - ePubPsychology and Social Work
Applied Perspectives
- Gabriela Misca, Peter Unwin(Authors)
- 2017(Publication Date)
- Polity(Publisher)
...hospices, where they make use of psychological principles as part of their endeavours to promote changes in people’s attitudes, behaviour and thinking about health and illness. This chapter will explore the application of psychological theories and research to understanding biological, psychological, environmental and cultural factors involved in health and the prevention of illness. It will look in depth at the particular issues of dementia, obesity in children and substance abuse as key concerns of social work that might helpfully be conceptualized and addressed through the lens of health psychology. Health psychology aims to provide explanations of the links between psychological processes and health. Knowledge of health psychology is important to social workers because health, both mental and physical, is a crucial determinant of many clients’ and carers’ lives. In the fields of child development, mental health, learning disabilities, physical disabilities and dementia services, health issues and their associated risks are of core concern. An understanding of the psychological phenomena of health conditions will provide a shared knowledge base from which social workers can effectively work with psychologists and other health professionals. Social workers with such knowledge should be more empathic, better able to advocate for services, and be more focused in their views about the appropriateness of a range of interventions. A sound understanding of these principles should also help them engage more effectively with members of the health and psychological professions with whom they often work on shared cases and interventions. What is health psychology? Health psychology is devoted to understanding the psychological factors associated with health and illness, and it focuses on health promotion and the prevention and treatment of illness alongside health policy formation...
