Important Dates in Abnormal Psychology

Hippocrates the Father of Medicine

350

460-377 BC Hippocrates developed the theory that the “four humors” or bodily fluids were responsible for physical and mental health. The four fluids he named are black bile, yellow bile, phlegm and blood.

Animal Magnetism

Jan 22, 1774

Franz Mesmer (1734-1815) developed the idea of animal magnetism which he defined as a natural energetic transference between all animated and inanimate objects.

Humanitarism

Aug 22, 1795

Phillipe Pinel (1745-1826) became chief physician at La Bicetre’s ward for the mentally ill. Pinel is considered to be a primary figure in the movement for the humanitarian treatment of the mentally ill.

First Psychology Testbook Written

Jan 22, 1812

Benjamin Rush (1745-1813) the “father of American Psychiatry wrote the first text book on the subject Medical Inquiries and Observations upon the Diseases of the Mind.

Dorothea Dix

Mar 22, 1841

Dorothea Dix (1802-1877) visited the Cambridge House of Corrections. The mentally ill were kept in the same facilities with prisoners and treated inhumanely. They were abused physically and sexually. This visit changed her life and started her on the path to reform prisons and mental hospitals.

Classification

Jan 22, 1882

The United Kingdom’s Statistical Committee of the Royal Medico-psychological Association came up with a classification scheme. The scheme was revised many times but never adopted.

Classification of Disorders

Jan 22, 1893

1856-1926 Emil Kraepelin brought order to the classification of mental disorders focusing on the biological aspects of mental illness.

Psychoanalysis

Jan 22, 1900

1856-1939 Sigmund Freud developed theories about the unconscious mind and the mechanism of repression. Freud established the field of verbal psychotherapy by creating psychoanalysis. This is a process where a patient talks to a psychoanalyst.

First Hand Account

Jan 22, 1908

1876-1943 Clifford W. Beers suffered a mental breakdown and spent time in an asylum. After his recovery published a study of his experience in the asylum called A Mind That Found Itself (1908).

The Beginning of behaviorism

Jan 22, 1913

John B. Watson (1879-1958) delivered his lecture “Psychology as the Behaviorist Views it” at Columbia University. In this lecture he first proposed the idea of an objective psychology of behavior called “behaviorism.”