Historical Treatments of Mental Disorders

: from the Stone Age till the Middle Ages :
 
Most historians believe that prehistoric societies regarding abnormal behavior as the work of evil spirits. These early societies apparently explained all phenomena as resulting from the actions of magical, something sinister being who controlled the world. In particular they viewed a human body and mind as a battle ground between external forces of good and evil. Abnormal behavior was seen as a victory by evil spirits. The cure for this conquer, was to force the demon from the victim’s body.
 
http://the-chair-of-moros.blogspot.com/2...chive.html
 

 
The society referred to those suffering from mental illnesses as ‘lunatics” which derived from the root word lunar meaning, “moon.” Through astrological reasoning it was believed that insanity was caused by a full moon at the time of a baby’s birth or a baby sleeping under the light of a full moon. They declared these lunatics possessed by the devil, and usually they were removed from society and locked away. 
 
http://the-chair-of-moros.blogspot.com/2...-from.html
 

The ancient Egyptians used to take a torpedo fish and slap it on the forehead of people who were possessed, and the fish would discharge an electric current blasting the spirit out the back of the brain.

A history of the treatments for the insane and unstable
 
http://psychology.okstate.edu/museum/tre...cover.html
 
A pictorial website containing examples of experiments done in times past.

The ancient Egyptians used to take a torpedo fish and slap it on the forehead of people who were possessed, and the fish would discharge an electric current blasting the spirit out the back of the brain.

 

Despite its poor public image, electroconvulsive therapy, or ECT, is in the midst of a quiet revival. In improved forms, electroshock therapy has gained renewed credibility in psychiatry, emerging as the treatment of choice for the most severe depression when drugs and other therapy fail to help. 
 
The patients for whom electroshock therapy is recommended by the report are among the most troubling in psychiatry: they are beyond the reach of drugs or other treatment and many are so severely depressed they do not eat, sleep very little and are suicidal. Many suffer from delusions. But in about 80 percent of cases, the report said, electroshock therapy can lift their depression within a few weeks, restoring them to mental health.
 
''There's no question that ECT is making a comeback, despite its terrible public image,'' said Dr. Richard Weiner, a psychiatrist at Duke University and head of an American Psychiatric Association task force on the treatment. ''It's safer and more effective than ever.'' 
 
http://www.nytimes.com/1990/08/02/us/hea...wanted=all
 
Turn it on again! Phil Collins reveals he uses controversial electroshock therapy as he plans his big comeback
 
The star is undergoing controversial electroshock therapy in a bid to overcome problems with his spine, neck and arm.
 
The painful treatment sends waves of electrical current through the body.
 
Collins, who also has problems with his right foot, is spending two hours a day in the gym to get fit ahead of his Not Dead Yet tour.
 
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-...eback.html
 

https://youtu.be/5ohlA__xABw

 

 

 



 

 

Beginning in the late eighteenth century “moral treatment” had become the prevalent school of treatment in the United States. Replacing the model of demonic possession, “moral treatment” hypothesized that insanity was caused by brain damage from outward influences on the soft and fragile brain.  Removing patients to an appropriate environment where they could indulge in clean, healthy living, and would be offered exercise, work, education and religious instruction, was thought to facilitate their cure. 
 
But the “moral treatment” method was riddled with problems.  As doctors and other hospital personnel grew frustrated by their lack of progress and a shortage of willing qualified staff, conditions often deteriorated.  Faced with overcrowded hospitals, and concerned about the rise of the spiritualist movement (which some attributed to the “moral treatment” method), many superintendents resorted to physical restraints.  By the middle part of the century, heredity also was considered a root cause of mental illness.  Many in the field believed that weak family and vices, like alcoholism and masturbation, could lead to madness.  The mentally ill were considered “genetically inferior” and eugenics and warped interpretations of Darwin’s theories suggested that mental illness could be eliminated through social engineering.  
 
https://www.mccarter.org/Education/mrs-p...tml/6.html

I'm thinking a focus on the 'moral treatment' of mental disorders should be paramount. Drugs really don't do what they're supposed to do. The side effects alone give big pharma more fuel to add to their list of deformities. Frustrations do apply but it's important to be patient as well as possible. Environments are a concern. Too many profit mongers out there make it difficult to create peaceful environments. Too many rules and regulations out there. They are designed to stunt any real growth in the moral treatment method. Plus, there is a degree of prejudice, religious and otherwise that contribute to the problem.