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Jan 1, 1403
Bedlam Takes in "Lunatics"
The hospital of St. Mary of Bethlehem in London later known as "bedlam" asylum went from being a hospital for the poor to accepting mentally ill patients. The hospital soon became overcrowded and was notorious for inhumane treatment. This would be a sociocultural, as well as religious event since some of the patients were treated as if they were infected with evil spirits. -
Jan 1, 1563
Weyer Opposes Demonic Possession
Jahann Weyer wrote a book in an attempt to disprove the theory that demons were causing mental illnesses, titled "De Praestigiis Daemonum" translated "The Deception of Demons," this lead to outraged religious and government leaders that deemed him a sorcerer. This event involved two theories the scientific from Weyer and the mystical believers. -
Franz Mesmer Uses Magnets
Franz Mesmer was fascinated by the invisible forces and worked with magnets as treatment for his mentally ill patients to correct what he believed to be an imbalance of magnetic fluid in the body. It actually worked for a few people but not really in the way he meant. Mesmer is considered one of the first hypnotists, which also gives you a good idea about where the term 'being mesmerized' came from. This would be a psychological event. -
The Freeing of the Mental Patients
Philippe Pinel becomes chief physician at France's La Bicetre’s asylum where he followed in the footsteps of Jean-Baptiste Pussin and released mentally ill patients from their painful shackles. He also went on to improve patient care through morality and improved medical record keeping. This event involved the humanitarian theory. -
Darwin's "Survival of the Fittest"
Charles Darwin publishes his book "On the Origin of Species" where he discusses his theories of natural selection & the survival of the fittest. This can also applied to abnormal psychology for those that took Darwin's survival of the fittest as being the strongest; but Darwin's natural selection actually refers to an organism’s ability to adapt to changing surroundings and "fitness" means how many offspring an organism produces. This is a biological theory event. -
Psychology in America
G. Stanley Hall is the first to get a doctorate in Psychology in America, and later created the American Psychological Association. I would say that this was a sociocultural event. In the picture Hall is front / center with other founding psychologists of the APA. -
Freud's Personality Theory
Sigmund Freud while working in Vienna began to develop his personality theory. He theorized taht personalities were made up of three structures; the id, teh ego, and the superego. This would be a psychological event as Freud was one of psychologies most famous. -
Shock me once ...
Electroshock therapy treatments were used on human patients for the first time in 1938. Although it seems quite barbaric to me, as per our text book and other sources I learned that it is quite successful in treating severe depression, mania, and schizophrenia, it causes a small seizure that almost resets the brain. I would say this is a sociocultural and biological event. -
Homer Blames the God's
In 800 BC, the ancient Greek poet Homer suggests that mental illness was attributed to punishment by the God’s, that they could take someone’s sanity and reasoning. This would be a religious / mystical theory event. -
Plato Choses the Brain.
387 BC, Plato a greek philosopher and mathematician among other things proposes that it is the brain that is responsible for mental processes. This was a very important scientific theory that was later rebuked by Aristotle who said that it was the heart, and it wasn't until much later that Plato was proved correct. So he was a man before his time, this would be a psychological and biological theory event.
