Mental Illness: Were They Aware?
In the late 16th to the early 17th centuries, mental illness was often misinterpreted as witchcraft. William Shakespeare, a renowned writer, had a great understanding of this. He shows this through his writing, especially in Macbeth, by incorporating guilt, hallucinations, PTSD, and witchcraft for his audience. A private psychotherapist stated “William Shakespeare, the most brilliant psychotherapist who never once treated a patient.” (Berglas) His understanding for mental illness is what makes his work so in depth and it draws his audience in to the suspense and mystery. He leaves his audience saying “What is wrong with this character?” or “How could the people not see they are mentally sick!” or “We need to know more about this!”. What is a mental illness? A mental illness can be a wide range of conditions that affect mood, thinking, and behavior. There are more than 200 confirmed forms of mental illness. There are different ways to treat these forms of mental illness. But back in Shakespearean times, mental illness was not really understood. It was often times misinterpreted as witchcraft. This was a contradictory thing because women who were good with herbs, were able to help heal the sick because they could turn the herbs into great medicine. But then they were accused of witchcraft
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Some people actually do consider it to be a mental illness. Macbeth said guilt was “Life’s fitful fever”. (Macbeth. 3. 2. 23) Now, what does he mean by that? Macbeth got no happy satisfaction from killing Duncan. Instead of happiness, he describes what he feels as “life’s fitful fever”. Instead of being happy, the guilt comes in at random times and hits him like a hot fever. It caused him to have insomnia. Insomnia is the absence of sleep. Him and Lady Macbeth suffered from the same “disease”. People in Shakespearean times often did not think of guilt as a mental illness as some do