A Short History of Mental Illness Treatment
A Short History of Mental Illness Treatment The Virtual Psychology Classroom notes that, as late as the 17th century, treatment for those “under the devil’s control” was worse than the ailment: “ . . . many individuals suffering from mental illness were tortured in an attempt to drive out the demon.” When this didn’t work—and of course, it usually didn’t—the victim was thought to be eternally possessed and in need of execution. Death provided a permanent release from mental torment. By the 18th century, a slightly more enlightened attitude began to take hold. The idea that someone’s mind was under the control of a fiendish spirit faded. Sufferers were put into lunatic asylums, as they were called. They could be grim places, and those inside were treated more as prisoners than patients. Although it was now recognized that diseases of the mind could not be driven out with a sound whipping there wasn’t much that medicine could do to lessen the suffering. Inmates were mostly just...