Preview

Mental Health In The 19th Century

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
326 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Mental Health In The 19th Century
One of the most important challenges for different societies , state and cultures is to promote and maintain positive mental health. The societal knowledge and views about mental illness throughout history have continuously changed , creating new and diverse connotations in the way the mentally ill are cared for and treated.
The treatments varied from primitive psychiatric forms of care from the 8th century in Islamic hospitals, according to Howells (1975) to a milieu therapy as archaic approach in Middle Ages. Until the 19th century , there is no form of organised systematic care for people with mental illness, excepting charitable provision or public asylums.
Rogers, A. & Pilgrim, D (2001), points out the beginning of the 19th century

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Psy 310 Week 2 Dq 1

    • 533 Words
    • 3 Pages

    What are some methods that were used to treat individuals who were presumably suffering from some form of mental illness prior to the Renaissance period? What are the rationales behind these methods?…

    • 533 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Today, a significant amount of emphasis has been geared toward mental health and mental disorders in the United States. Healthy people 2020 lists mental health and mental disorders among their main topics and states appropriate interventions and resources available for this issue. Mental health is a state of effective performance of mental function resulting from adequate coping abilities, positive relationships and productive activities. According to Healthy people 2020, mental health is imperative for personal well-being and the ability to be a contributing member to society. Unfortunately mental illness is a concern for both the younger population as well as the old, and is a primary source for disability and premature morbidity. For the…

    • 211 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Before the middle ages society believed that if an individual had mental illness it was because they were filled with evil sprits. Families were the main caregivers to the mentally ill but they treated them very inhumanely. In the 3rd century is when a physician by the name of Hippocrates used the scientific approach to explain and treat mental illness. Religious Catholic figures from the 1500 are considered by some to be the first human services professionals; they helped help establish institutions for the poor, orphans, elderly and disabled. By the end the 18th century the care for the mentally ill changed dramatically in areas of more humane treatment, better diets, daily exercise and development of the mind. The history of events that took place towards individuals with mental problems has helped human services understand and provide greater care for over time.…

    • 493 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mental illness is currently a crucial component in our society, that enables us to understand the behavior of an individual. Where one's actions can be associated with the mental stability that he or she possesses. In conjunction, the Elizabethan era didn't acknowledge mental illness and its effects commonly incorporating Witchcraft and other Supernatural occurances to explain what is currently recognized as mental illness. Bipolar disorder or manic depression is a mood disorder that causes mood swings that enter a high phase and a low phase. The high phase is known as “manic” where the individual speaks at a very fast pace, with energetic movements.…

    • 586 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    This report will explain how legislation and social policy has changed in response to the needs of individuals with mental illness. It will analyse the impact of recent changes in social policy and how it has changed society’s response to mental health. Mental health has never fully been accepted in society. This report will outline how attitudes towards mental health have changed throughout history and explain why.…

    • 844 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ever since the first time someone got sick, people have needed treatment. The same applies to those with mental illnesses, although for the first 19 centuries or so, people did not necessarily see it that way. The concept of a ‘mad’ or ‘insane’ person has, for the most part, always been established, but not until relatively recently did people realize what mental illness actually was. In American Colonial times, people who were afflicted were believed to be possessed by a demon, or some result of magic or the devil’s tricks. Therefore, these people did not receive any treatment other than an exorcism or other religiously affiliated methods. That is, if they were even treated. In this rural culture of the…

    • 502 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    As a young woman who is still experimenting with adulthood myself, having to read about the oppression and subordination of females in the 19th century can become very depressive and heartbreaking. It often goes unnoticed that social neglect leads to mental illnesses and includes more than loneliness and depressive behavior but it rather voids the individual from the identity and the aspiration that they have for themselves and that they are passionate about. The Yellow Wallpaper is a short story published in 1982 that addresses the marital, mental and social struggles that its narrator is facing. Jane, the narrator, is a newly wed young lady who just gave birth to her…

    • 1561 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The 19th century was a time in history when many new things were happening in the United States and medical marvels happened often. The south was a place specifically prominent where social standings were how people were judged and how one was were treated by people. While mental illnesses have been around forever, the treatment of them, medically and socially, has changed drastically over time. In a “Rose For Emily” William Faulkner tells how the community that Emily Grierson lives in did not speak of or act upon her mental illness because of her social standings and because they felt that mental illness was not considered a medical problem in those times.…

    • 1325 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    While it is important to understand the differences in today’s institution compared to their predecessors; it is also critical to take heed of lessons learned. Throughout history mankind has been challenged by how to treat members of society who are different whether these differences are based on physical or mental attributes. As for mental illness, we have entered into an age of new beginnings where the negative aspects of these places are being forgotten and images of safety and happiness for these patients are being…

    • 863 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Today however people now accept the mentally ill better in society, there are laws that protect them, and now they are treated properly according to their illness. Back then there were many incorrect treatments and facilities to treat the mentally ill, but as time has passed the types of treatments have greatly improved. There were a variation of treatments for the sick in the 1930s, psychiatrist would use different versions of shock therapy, Insulin, Metrazol, and electroconvulsive therapy. All of these therapies usually included seizures because psychiatrist claimed that they could shock the illnesses out of them (Freeman).…

    • 1230 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Policy Process Part I

    • 1203 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Mental health issues have been a problem since the 16th century in the when many people may have been the victims of witch-hunts. Most mentally ill people or those who were judged insane were sent to work in workhouses, poorhouses, and jails. Forced confinements and restraints were used on those who people though were dangerously disturbed or could be violent to themselves, other’s or other’s property. Eventually, madhouses were created where mental ill people were housed and treated harshly but were seen as being therapeutic and helping to suppress animalistic passions.…

    • 1203 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Mental health illness are more prevalent than people think, or want to believe. An estimate of 61.5 million Americans experience mental illnesses in a year. Contrary to popular belief, anyone can fall victim to a mental health illness. Approximately Four million adolescents suffer from mental illnesses, in the United States (www.nami.org). The growing rate of mental health issues has concluded in the improvement and expansion of mental health treatment, more research is being done on the different kinds of illnesses, and how to treat them, or cope with them.…

    • 928 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    (Insel) Shockingly, of the 450 million people worldwide who suffer from mental health conditions, 60 percent do not receive any form of care. Much is not the cost of care, but the loss of income due to unemployment, expenses for social supports, and a range of indirect costs due to a chronic disability that began early in life. The World Health Organization has reported that mental illnesses are the leading causes of disability adjusted life years worldwide, accounting for 37% of healthy years lost from non-communicable diseases. Depression alone accounts for one third of this disability. People who have negative views of mental health are less likely to help lift the burden of mental illness. By bringing awareness to mental illness society will be more apt to donate to better care for mentally ill individuals so funds can be put toward beneficial aspects instead of helping individuals simply survive. Creating parity between mental and physical illness allows for research, training, treatment and prevention that will lead to money saved and citizens helped. The discrepancy between the cost of mental health disorders as compared to the funding of research is startling, and is believed to be caused by the stigma associated with…

    • 1166 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Mental Health Funding

    • 4122 Words
    • 17 Pages

    One common theme found in the mental health care industry is the deficiency of acknowledgement, in terms of overall health status and the well-being of the people involved. The consequence and cause to this is the fact that mental health research is poorly funded and developed due to politics, the economy, and stigma. Even with the limited imbursement given, money is being spent with limited value and accountability (Bhattacharya et all. 2001). Despite all this, mental health is not even considered near to the same degree as importance as physical health, so its neglectfulness results in this area of public health to be poorly studied; hence suffering people who don’t receive treatment to its full potential (World Health Organization, 2003).…

    • 4122 Words
    • 17 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The understanding of mental illness today since the early 1900s has changed significantly. In the 1900s, people still had no real understanding of what caused mental illnesses, let alone how to treat the disease. The disease was feared and was seen as incurable. Mentally ill patients would be sent to asylums, and as a form of treatment they were tortured. Until in the later 1900s, it was discovered that certain factors and drug therapy could be a treatment to cure the mentally ill. Today there are various forms of treatment and treatment settings for the different mental illnesses that help to benefit the patients’ condition.…

    • 744 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays