Hannah Turner Mr. Birney Apush May 30 2017 The history of mental illness Mental illness references a wide range of mental health disorders that affect your mood, thinking and behavior. The discovery of mental illnesses dates back to 400 B.C. and was discovered by a Greek physician Hippocrates. Throughout history the treatment and social acceptance of mental illnesses have changed immensely. Many women were being put in institutions as an alternative for divorce because divorce rates were extremely low at the time. As time went on treatments and overall acceptance of this topic have developed into more open and positive things to discuss. Hippocrates a Greek physician discovered that illnesses come from a natural occurrence in the body. Hippocrates studied the brain and found that even mental illnesses stem from his initial belief about all illnesses. In the late seventeen hundreds psychiatric hospitals were introduced in America. In 1773 eastern state hospital in Williamsburg Virginia became The first national public facility built solely to treat those who are mentally ill. …show more content…
Many treatments that were performed in the 1800s were inhumane. A multitude of these drastic procedures resulted in patients remaining in a permanent state of vegetation. Some “try ” they performed were lobotomies, skull drilling, ice baths, electroshock therapy and exorcisms . Lobotomies were the first treatment use to alleviate the illness suffering by disturbing the brain's circuits. Exorcisms were used because it was believed that being mentally ill was a sign of demonic possession and religious punishment. Finally ice baths were also used as a form of treatment. Patience were forced to sit in bathtubs filled with ice for hours on end to try to cure their mental