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Mental Disorders In The Middle Ages

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Mental disorders have been treated over time starting as early as 5,000BC. Three of the most pivotal times in history began with the Neolithic Era commonly known as the New Stone Age. Following that is the Middle Ages which then lead us to present day. The ways of treatment have gradually changed with the development of new science and medicine. The knowledge needed to advance medical treatments have come from thousands of years of trial and error. Medicine is still improving each day leading doctors to find new ways to better treat mental disorders. People that had mental illnesses in the New Stone Age were believed to be demonic or even to be an angry God coming down to punish everyone for committing sins. Due to the of the lack of knowledge …show more content…

The rise of Christianity was greater than the attempt to gain more knowledge of science and nature. In doing so, those who challenged or did not view Christianity as the answer for everything were charged as being a heretic. The people of this era once again believed that anyone with a mental disorder had some sort of supernatural force possessing over them. With the addition to the brutal exorcisms that priests would cast on the ill, monks would treat them with sympathy. This was believed to help by allowing them to rest and receive prayer for then the spirit would be revived and healed. Being beaten, starved, and immersed in water to drive out the devil were many of the continuous therapies that were thought to help as well they thought. Instead, various forms of mass madness broke out in major cities. Groups of people could not control their emotions and resulted in blindness or paralysis for no apparent reason. This hysteria also formed into mass dancing, jumping, wild raving, and shaking throughout Europe. The cause of the outbreaks was associated with the stress and fear of the bubonic plague, war, famine, and the social economic status of the people of the

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