-
300
The Dark Ages (300-1500 A.D.)
No scientific advances were made. People leaned on spiritual beliefs as the cause to their diseases. Monasteries/poorhouses were built all over Europe to help the poor but also to house the mentally ill. They later became asylums. -
17th, 18th and 19th Centuries
Patients were still treated very badly. Many were left in institutions and suffered terribly while others were cast into the wilderness to fend for themselves. This would be because of spiritual and sociocultural beliefs. -
Franz Anton Mesmer (1734-1815)
Mesmer details his cure to some mental diseases. He called it mesmerism (A.K.A. hypnosis). This was psychological. -
Philippe Pinel (1745-1826)
He releases first mental health patients from confinement, He also started the concept of patient records and believed in using "moral treatment" on patients. This is a humanitarian act. -
Benjamin Rush (1745-1813)
Father of American psychiatry. Believed in scientific approach. Helped make conditions better for patients, but still believed in scaring the patients. His methods were inhumane for treating the patients. This would be a psychological/sociocultural theory. -
Vincenzo Chiarugi (1759-1820) and Jean-Baptiste Pussin
Chiarugi introduced regulations on increased hygiene, recreation and work opportunities.
Pussin forbade staff to beat the patients and released the patients from shackles.
This would be sociocultural and humanitarian. -
King Hammurabi (1800-1700 B.C.)
The king created the Code of Hammurabi. They believed the diseases were caused by evil spirits. This would be a spiritual theory. -
Dorthea Dix (1802-1877)
Helped the mentally ill by starting campaigns that educated people on the mentally ill patient's situations and helped to open 32 hospitals for the poor. This would be a psychological and sociocultural event. -
Jean Martin Charcot (1825-1893)
He made hypnosis popular and respected. Developed clinical anatomical method. This would be a psychological approach. -
Emil Kraepelin (1856-1926)
Classified some mental illnesses (schizophrenia and manic-depressive psychosis). His classification ideas laid groundwork for today's classification system. Believed it was psychological. -
Sigmund Freud (1856-1939)
Used psychoanalysis as a treatment for mental illness. He also developed a theory of mind that explained unconscious motivation. Believed it was psychological. -
Clifford Whittingham Beers (1876-1943)
Suffered mental breakdown, went to an asylum, then got out and wrote a book about his experiences. He helped found a National Committee for Mental Hygiene. Their job is to prevent mental illness and to help ensure humane treatment. These were psychological/sociocultural theories and humanitarian acts. -
Erik Erikson
Published "Childhood and Society." Adds more information to Freud's theory. This is a psychological theory. -
White House takes action.
President George Bush promotes the legislation to help cover mental health expenses. This is a psychological/sociocultural event. -
Greeks and Romans (800 B.C.-1000 A.D.)
They had many theories that the diseases were caused by mystical powers.
Homer believed that mental illness was caused by God.
Hippocrates had a more scientific approach. He believed that four bodily fluids are responsible for mental and physical health.
Asclepiades (129-40 B.C.) didn't believe in Hippocrates approach, but instead believed that psycholoigcal disturbances could be the result of emotional problems in the mentally ill. He highly discouraged bleeding and made other advances. -
10,000-3,000 B.C. (PREHISTORIC)
Still unclear on what they believed. Anthropologists have many theories on why the people of this time drilled holes into other's skulls (trephining). Most likely a spiritual/religious theory.
