Final Paper: Mental Illnesses: Then and Now

Transcription

1 Final Paper: Mental Illnesses: Then and Now Grace Stewardson Professor Unangst Digital History Project 12/16/16 Mental Illnesses: Then and Now The treatment of mental illness has evolved over a huge period of time. From the harsh treatment during the Victorian era to the understanding of how to treat someone who is in an unhealthy state of mind. During the 20th century the rise of the mentally ill became more apparent, and people didn't know exactly what to do or how to fix this. Those who had or were treated of the mental ly ill had been hidden away since the 12th century [1]. At the time, people who were known to be mental idiots were those of the age 3 and below. However, discoveries were made realizing the mentally ill were humans above the age of 3, therefore drastic measure were taken. One of the first public hospitals for the mentally disturbed had opened and took extreme measures. Patients of these hospitals were chained to beds, forced to drink mercury, as well as making patients sleep in coffins to "calm them down"[1]. Illnesses as well as various disorders are always interrelated with history and culture. The history behind the misconception of mental illnesses over the past hundred years has changed dramatically. Mental illnesses were defined as disorders that affected peoples moods and behavior, however, before medicine became more advanced, the uncertainty of mental health was very prevalent during the Victorian Era. At the time, what was considered mentally ill would not cut 1 / 5

2 it today. Doctors were not yet advanced to make diagnosis as well as educated enough to form treatments. A lot of bias played in the roles of diagnosis for doctors regarding stereotypes that directly effected women due to their lack of development compared to men. Woman were targeted and contributed to the many people during this time of whom were considered insane.were based on many stereotypes and biases that directly effected women. Women were seen inferior to men and constantly targeted. The problem during this time was the generalizations made based on doctors who lacked proper education regarding treating the mentally ill.diagnosis were often wrong and today's psychologists would never classify someone with weak emotional qualities to have mental illness. Today we have made much progress as a society and have more than 200 different forms of mental illnesses as well as treatments and medications that have been accepted. In the article written in the London Times discusses the many ways of treating people of the mentally ill. This article was a piece written about the mentally disturbed towards the public in a way that may get their attention regarding the new laws. This article discusses a new law that was in ordinance regarding the appropriate treatment for doctors to deal with patients in a fair matter during the Victorian Era. There were many cruel treatments of those who were not in the right state of mind because no one knew any better [2]. This article talks about ways that could possibly improve the way patients were treated regarding asylums and other options available. Based on the author of this source, there is an uncertainty of knowledge and in a way is hiding the truth from what really goes on when dealing with mental people. There isn't information regarding what exactly happens behind the scenes, just about working on laws to improve such behavior that has gone on, but what behavior is that? Its that fear of exploiting the truth, creating a worry to the people who are reading an article with this information, thus the reason their is limited info. Medical diagnosis revolved around masculinity and femininity. Men were seen for their physical and mental toughness and women were seen to have very restricted roles. If diagnosed, women were victims of their own biology. Women were seen to be weak compared to men and couldn t control their emotions as well as their reproductive systems which are all to blame because of biology. At the time psychologists were considered medical men and were opposed to women working towar 2 / 5

3 ds higher education and employment outside the home because if overworked, they would not expect sympathy for they violated natures dictates. [5] In Women, Madness and Medicine Denise Russell challenges the basic assumptions of medical or biological psychiatry, which are: that mental illness exists; that the causes of mental illness are biological; therefore, the only effective forms of treatment are those based on medical/biological research [3]. She talks about how DSM is biased towards women showing that illnesses were over dramatized, like using PMS and classifying it as a disorder rather than a normal state of what every women experiences. Society has shaped mental illnesses around women based on how they are treated and diagnosed and the Victorian era was a very crucial, time in the history of women's mental health. Mental illnesses that were accepted was hysteria and insanity. Women were seen insane without a husband and were considered to have hysteria if a man did not control her life. If women were to misbehave or not have any self control, they were also considered to be mentally ill or unstable. Women having emotions or not known as the ideal women were also considered insane. During the late nineteenth century, making a diagnosis about about hysteria was always an unsure decision that was never finally resolved [4]. Hysteria and other diseases received attention, in particular, nervous disorders of which women made up a majority of those diagnosed as well as a majority of women incarcerated in asylums. [7] Throughout discoveries made during by what was considered medical men and psychiatrists, showed social, moral and sexual biases regarding their actions and concerns regarding nervous disorders. Because of the uncertain status of doctors, what was considered morals was rather about their lack of knowledge within this profession. Psychiatrists wanted to prove themselves by gaining respect and approval from colleagues and figured if they couldn t cure nervous and mental disorders, they believed by educating the people, the could help prevent any sort of nervous like behavior to occur. Whether trying to cure, explain or prevent mental disorders, Victorian medical men had the tendency to generalize evidence based on limited experience with past patients causing even more inaccurate diagnosis s [5]. Insane asylums had become a dumping ground with way too many patients and not enough staff members for individual treatment and by the end of the Victorian Era the asylums contained more than 100,000 inmates [8] The idea behind asylums was isolation from family and and society was part of the cure however with overcrowding of asylums, moral therapy was gone and gave away brutal custodial care. [5] In many ways these moral treatments included shocking patients out of their aberrations, and in many ways these methods did not necessarily require a medical degree. The history behind the admittance regardless of decade has showed that the rate of hospitalization was higher among members of lower status, women, and unmarried individuals. Even during the 1980 s were these groups of people being placed based on disadvantages casting even more validity of the argument of individuals with lower status, power, women, and resources are at higher risk to be treated for the mentally ill by agents of social control. [6] It is in recent history that class and gender are what has received attention with the history of insanity during the nineteenth century. 3 / 5

4 Understanding the history behind mental illness is very important to show how far we have come in regards to knowledge and medicine. Mental health is a very prevalent issue in today's society, as we are continuing to become more advanced in diagnosis and treatment. Biased diagnoses are no longer an issue, and women are not the only ones whose mental health is challenged. The way we made decisions about someone s hysteria is quite disturbing. Doctors were not educated enough to make decisions and creating a diagnosis off of gender and or social class. Our gender stereotypes targeting women as insane based on emotions and their biology has decreased as we learn more about mental health. The whole idea of madness was so broad and when any abnormalities occurred they were considered crazy, but we have made a lot of progress coming as far as we have and looking back on what was considered psychiatric care would not make it compared to the knowledge we have today. [1] Garrett, C. (2015, May 30). Talk describes history and horrors of mental health treatment. The Sun Journal Retrieved from [2] "Commission On Lunacy." Times [London, England] 9 Oct. 1924: 11. The Times Digital Archive. Web. 26 Sept [3] Rusell, Denise. Women, madness, and medicine. Cambridge, UK: Polity Press, 1995 [4] Scull, Andrew. Biographies of Diseases : Hysteria : The Biography. Oxford, GB: Oxford University Press, Accessed October 19, ProQuest ebrary. [5] McCandless, Peter "THE MATTER OF MADNESS: PERSPECTIVES ON THE HISTORY OF PSYCHIATRY." Journal Of The History Of The Behavioral Sciences 28, no. 3: Academic Search Complete, EBSCOhost (accessed October 19, 2016). [6] Thoits, Peggy A., and Ranae J. Evenson. "Differential Labeling of Mental Illness Revisited: Patterns before and after the Rise of Managed Care." Sociological Forum 23, no. 1 (2008): [7] Harsin, Jill Gender, Class, and Madness in Nineteenth-century France. French Historical Studies 17 (4). Duke University Press, Society for French Historical Studies: doi: / [8] Storr, Anthony. "Out of Mind, Out of Sight: Anthony Storr on the Disturbing Story Behind the Custodial Care of the Insane." Financial Times, Feb 01, / 5

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