1. The historical context of mental health

Question 1

Supernatural cause (3)

Answer 1

• Trephination was a supernatural explanation for mental illness in 6500BC
• They did surgical drilling of holes in skulls to treat head injuries and epilepsy to allow trapped evil spirits in the skull to be released

Question 2

Biological cause (3)

Answer 2

Hippocrates suggest that an imbalance of humours was the cause of mental illness in 400BC and they all come with different temperaments and characteristics.

• 4 humours:

  - Yellow Bile - linked to the liver 
  - Blood - linked to the heart
  - Black Bile - linked to spleen
  - Phlegm - linked to the brain

• Treatment includes bloodletting, purging and laxatives

Question 3

Psychological cause (3)

Answer 3

Psychoanalysis was a psychological cause for mental illness in 1900s - 1950s

• Based of Freuds theory that behaviour is strongly influenced by the unconscious and that mental illness is due to unresolved trauma and conflict often from childhood
• Treatment is from talking about their unconscious fears, trauma, desires with a therapist so they become conscious of them