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How Did Schizophrenia Change Over Time

799 Words4 Pages

Stephen Brimhall
Ms. Erika Backs
Modern American Literature
19 May 2016
How the Treatment of Those with Schizophrenia Has Changed Over Time
Mental illnesses have existed and been recognized since the dawn of civilization itself. Over this time, treatments have changed, ranging from things as benign as music exposure to deadly treatments such as drilling holes in the skull (Burton, Lane). Schizophrenia is important because it is a frequently misunderstood yet extremely prevalent mental disorder, with about 1% of the world’s population suffering from it (Wick).
In history, there have been many ways of treating what we now call schizophrenia. The first recognitions of schizophrenia, and mental illnesses in general, were seen as “divine punishment …show more content…

Schizophrenia means ‘split mind,’ intended to indicate fragmented thinking rather than split personalities. The attitude of the time was that people with schizophrenia were a “menace to society” and should be locked up (Burton). This lead to treatments that are considered inhumane today, such as lobotomy. While improvements had been made in that treatments which resulted in certain death—such as drilling holes in the skull or burning at the stake—were no longer used, lobotomy and electroshock therapy were both considered valid treatments, and electroshock therapy is still used in some cases (Flanigan). In fact, the treatment is often without consent, and even recently “a mental health client [was] treated with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) without . . . consent” (Flanigan). Even at this point, when it was widely known that schizophrenia was its own disease, it was being treated in mostly the same way as every other mental illness. One of the primary reasons this did not continue was Ken Kesey’s book One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest which rose awareness of the horrible conditions these people were living in simply because they were unlucky enough to be afflicted with a mental …show more content…

Works Cited
Burton, Neel, M.D. "A Brief History of Schizophrenia." Psychology Today. N.p., 08 Sept. 2012. Web. 20 May 2016.
Flanigan, Catherine. "Ethics and the Use of Electroconvulsive Therapy." Whitireia Nursing Journal Annual 2010: 8. Academic OneFile. Web. 20 May 2016.
Lane, Cheryl, Psy.D. "History of Schizophrenia." Schizophrenic.com. Schizophrenic.com, n.d. Web. 20 May 2016.
Muzyk, Andrew. "Schizophrenia Treatments." Chain Drug Review 7 July 2014: 62. Health Reference Center Academic. Web. 19 May 2016.
National Institute of Mental Health. "Schizophrenia." NIMH. National Institute of Mental Health, Feb. 2016. Web. 18 May 2016.
Schizophrenia.com. "The History of Schizophrenia." The History of Schizophrenia. Internet Mental Health Initiative, 2010. Web. 19 May 2016.
Whitehead, Rachel. "Schizophrenia: 100 Years of Bad Treatment." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media, 29 Oct. 2011. Web. 19 May 2016.
Wick, Jeannette Y., and Kelsey Hutchinson. "Schizophrenia: Management Strategies." Pharmacy Times Mar. 2016: 62. Health Reference Center Academic. Web. 19 May

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