Position:Home>Philosophy> What did they call mental illnesses before they were considered such?

Didn't they say they were possessed by demons? Lol, I remember hearing thats what they though before the enlightenment.

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When somebody used to be mentally ill in the early days, such behaviour was not considered to be of a nornmal person. People used to think that such persons were under the control of Spirits or Ghosts.
Metally ill persons were not considered to be good companions and hence were shunned.

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Nervous conditions. Possession. Depending on the enlightenment of the local doctors. Some conditions like Bi-polar have had herbal treatments for thousands of years. Pharmacology is a scam.

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Excellent question! In my opinion, there are not enough people on medication to stabilize or even cure mental illnesses. It makes me equate this to people who have high cholesterol. There are many people on cholesterol lowering medication than ever before. That's because we are more knowledgable about the dangers in having high cholesterol. Mental illness is the same, it's just in the mood, mind and feelings part of the body. It doesn't make it any less serious. As much as you wouldn't take your father off of his Lipitro, or not put him on it to begin with, if needed, people who are suffering from mental illnesses of any degree need to feel better too. They deserve better quality of life. What bothers me is when you hear in the news about someone who is supposed to be taking medication who committed a murder. I also don't like it when kids' parents make continual excuses for them because they are on Ritalin or something. We need to keep people on drugs who need them, and teach them life skills which includes making them accountable for staying on meds and getting on with their lives.

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In any age period, "normal" people have always been able to spot someone acting very strange.

In biblical times, people who were really different had "demons." I believe some visions of the prophets could (emphasis on "could") have been hallucinations.)

Later, after the Renaissance and the Age of Reason, demons were not necessarily viewed as the reason for craziness. They just locked people up in lunatic asylums.

Then some time in the 1800's, behavior began to be studied scientifically. Freud and others now started seeing illnesses, rather than demons.

Since there was clearly (that they could determine) nothing wrong physically, the behaviors could be attributed to "mental illness."

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i guess i agree with u ..i went for migraines and the doctor wrote me tons of anti depressions ,i didn't touch it cos i feel i have the power over myself no medicine will make me better ,how u feel is wut will make u better ,i mean am a cheerful person by nature ...and when i went to the doctor i was just scared that i might have cancer cos i have real bad headaches .. i dont know wether this answer ur question or not..anyway have a good day..

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In some cases, the mentally ill were said to be 'possessed' by evil spirits. Even today, some claim they hear spirits speaking to them. We know this to be a symptom of schizophrenia.

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Politicians

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In some cultures people were considered to have demons of some kind and there were all sorts of archaic practices to let them out from bloodletting to trepanning, etc. I tend to think that some mental illnesses are simply character traits that have been blown out of proportion. Some people are truly crazy, but most of us are simply people with feelings and it's normal to have feelings! I get so tired of society thinking we always have to be happy all the time. Happy and compliant, and if we're not, there's something wrong with us. People don't seem to want to truly delve deep within themselves and think and feel anymore. People shouldn't be on so many drugs...we need to let nature take its course once in a while...

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Two thousand years before Christ, there were pills and potions to cure every illness. There were people who specialized in knowing what the leaves, seeds and roots would cure. Naturally, there was a lot of experimentation usually on themselves. They had cures for epilepsy, depression, all the things we have today.

In one of the Egyptian tombs, there is a relic of a hole being drilled in a person's skull. (We don't know for sure whether or not he died. However, there was some calcification around the bone that indicated that he had survived.)

In medieval England the citizenry had insane asylums for severe cases. I've heard that they were hell holes.

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Well, we tend to forget that low level mood disorders stem from the general decline in physical health and vigor. For example, kidney patients (those who need dialysis) got that way due to poor high fat diet, lack of activity, inborn or created diabetes mellitus, etc. Their kidneys failed so that is why they need dialysis. If they choose hemodialysis, they get this done 3 times a week for 3-4 hrs each time.

During the intervals, they build up toxins, which the kidneys would have cleared if they were functional. All the crap--the toxins create lethargy, mood problems such as lack of motivation, flat affect (no expressions on face), etc.

We have not just kidney problems in this country, but liver problems, heart disease, use of drugs, alchohol (a depressant), etc. All these physical disorders, diseases, lack of activity, etc contribute to mental disorders! We are getting less healthy by the generations, although infections which killed us (like Bubonic plague, small pox, etc) are pretty much controlled. Slow and more costly bodily health declines are more common now...

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Actually, drugs for mental illness made their debut in my life time. But, just because there were no psychologist/psychiatrist BEFORE Freud doesn't mean they did not know any thing about insanity. (I tried to google it, but found only sites about using insanity as a legal maneuver, etc., and booksites offering to sell books. So, I will have to rely on my memory.)
From the Greek classics, they knew about insanity. The Bible refers to insane people a number of times, especially in the gosples.
So, no, they were not "character traits" (and people should never confuse the 2), but were called madness or insanity. (Insane comes from Latin, meaning NOT sane.)
So, for all of written history, people have known about insanity and recognized it as a disease.
I would like to add that the American Natives viewed insanity (and moronity) as a gift from the gods...they thought that those were "special people" and often revered them.

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Often, it was believed that these people had been possessed by evil spirits, or they were enlightened.

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They called us crazy.

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alot of ancient tribes saw mental illness as a good thing. they saw the lack of communication with people, general distancing and odd unexplained things they did as them nearing the end of their life and communicating with the spirits they were soon to join.
i agree they prescribe drugs too early i know a number of 'mentally ill' people all diagnosed differently some find the drugs work some don't(mostly don't) alot don't see themselves as fine, my gran doesn't she describes it as when she is well she makes herself get up but she doesn't at the mo as there's no point every one treats her different but shes still her. alot of these mood traits every one has can worsen due to bad diet lack of exercise, no work, and too much thinking. and are made worse by people's attitudes. i do not believe the correct help they need is drugs they can make it worse, i think people's understanding and some one to talk to people through hard times would do a lot better although drugs may be needed in extreme cases it is an illness but one that gets diagnosed so many times when it's not necessary. often crazy just means different opinions from my experience.

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