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Period: 460 BCE to 377 BCE
Hippocrates
Greek physician. The father of modern medicine. Denied supernatural associations and stated that mental disorders have natural causes and can be treated. Emphasized on clinical observation and brain pathology. However, due to the lack of physiology, some of his beliefs were sexist in today's standard. -
Period: 384 BCE to 322 BCE
Aristotle
Greek philosopher. Focused on consciousness and how thinking can help reduce pain. Rejected the idea that mental disorders could be caused by psychological feelings such as frustration. -
Period: 130 to 200
Galen
Roman physician. Contributed to the anatomy of the nervous system. The causes of mental disorders can be caused by physical or mental factors. The doctrine of the four humors. Blood (sanguis), phlegm, bile (cooler), black bile (melancholer). A person's temperament is determined by the dominating humor. The sanguine, the phlegmatic, the choleric, and the melancholic. -
Period: 476 to 1453
the Middle Ages
People used superstition to explain mental disorders. Exorcisms were constantly used for the elimination of the evil forces. People with mental illness might be mistaken as witches. -
Period: 1500 to
Early Asylums
From the sixteenth century, asylums were built to lock up those who are mentally ill. People in there were treated like vicious beasts instead of humans. -
Period: 1515 to
Johann Weyer
German physician and writer. Against the torture of people accused of witchcraft due to mental disorders.The founder of modern psychopathology. -
Period: to
Philippe Pinel
Humanitarian reform. Patients with mental disorders should be treated as sick people, with kindness and care. -
Period: to
Benjamin Rush
The founder of American psychiatry. Pro humanitarian treatment for people with mental illness. Important figure signally the transition from the old era to the new era. -
Period: to
Wilhelm Griesinger
The first person to systematically write about the link between mental illness and brain pathology. -
Period: to
Sigmund Freud
Viennese neurologist, psychiatrist. The founder of psychoanalysis. Discovery of the unconscious.