Conceptual and historical issues in mental health Flashcards
Mental health disorders in Ancient times
4 points
- Mental disorder attributed to possession by demons or gods
- Could be positive/negative
- Demonic possession treated through exorcism
- Addictions were thought of as sins
Mental health disorders in Greek and Roman thought (400 BC)
4 points
- Mental disorders were not due to demons, but had natural causes and appropriate treatments
- Brain is the central organ of mental activity
- Mental disorders due to brain pathology (imbalanced fluids)
- Treatment consisted of lifestyle (sexual abstinence, sobriety, diet changes, tranquility) and environmental changes
Mental health disorders in Middle ages (500-1500 AD)
2 points
- Greek ideas survive in the Middle East, with Mental Hospitals set up in Baghdad, Aleppo, and Damascus
- In Europe:
- Mass madness
- Exorcism
- Witch hunting
Mental health disorders in Late middle ages/early Renaissance
4 points
- Madness replaces witchcraft
- Move away from religious influence
- 16th century onwards: establishments of asylums
- Confinement of the mentally ill
Bedlam
4 points
- St. Mary of Bethlem, London
- A monastery set up in 1243
- Made into an asylum in 1547
- Hospital for the mentally ill
- Deplorable conditions
- Crude and painful treatments
- Bedlam now mean “a place of wild uproar and confusion”
Humanitarian Reform
Phillipe Pinel
- Phillipe Pinel - La Bicetre Hospital France - 1792
- Removed the chains of inmates and treated them kindly
- Filth and noisiness replaced by order and peace → for high class inmates
What did William Tuke and Benjamin Rush do?
Similar work to Pinel
- Moral management became a feature of the time: Rehabilitation of character, through manual labour and spiritual discussion
What was the mental hygiene movement?
2 points
- improving physical conditions for the mentally ill
- Supported by Dorothea Dix, who was responsible for the establishment of 32 mental hospitals
Mental disorders in The early 19th Century
2 points
- Asylums controlled by laypersons, not doctors
- Moral management was the treatment on offer
Mental disorders in The late 19th Century
2 points
- Psychiatrists have more influence on treatment
- Mental health conditions have vague definitions (’nervous exhaustion’) which are considered treatable
Early 20th century: growth in asylums
2 points
- 1946 onwards: greater attention to care in hospitals due to public concern
- Development of outpatient clinics, inpatient facilities in general hospitals, community consultation
Late 20th century
2 points
- Use of medication like lithium to treat depression
- De-institutionalisation: efforts to close mental hospitals
Grief
Grief is a natural response to the loss of a loved one
→ Symptoms begin to decrease overtime
DSM-5 TR Prolonged Grief Disorder (definintion)
The loss of a loved on had to have occurred at least a year ago for adults, and at least 6 months ago for children and adolescents
DSM-5 TR Prolonged Grief Disorder (symptoms)
- Experienced at least three of the symptoms nearly every day for at least the last month prior to the diagnosis
- Person’s bereavement lasts longer than might be expected based on social, cultural or religious norms
Critics of the DSM
- DSM 5 will dramatically increase the rates of mental disorder
- by reducing thresholds for existing disorders;
- by introducing new high prevalence disorders at the boundary with normality
thinking critically about mental disorder
philosophy & epistemology
- Philosophy of the concept of mental disorder
- How can we define mental disorder
- Philosophy of the concept of psychopathology?
- Rationality, power, biology
- Epistemology of psychiatry
- Natural kinds (e.g. diseases)
60s
The history of madness in the middle ages
- social and physical exclusion of lepers
→ Leprosy disappeared so madness came to occupy this position
The history of madness in the 15th century
ship of fools, sending mad people away in ships
The history of madness in the renaissance
accepted in society, those who push rationality to the boundary are closer to god’s wisdom