PSY240H5 Chapter Notes - Chapter 2: Moral Treatment, Mass Psychogenic Illness, Mass Hysteria
Document Summary
Provide some clues to earliest treatments of diseases and behaviour disorders: edwin smith papyrus. Detailed descriptions of treatment of wounds and other surgical operations. Brain is described (possibly first time that brain was linked to mental disorders: ebers papyrus. But relies more on incantations and magic for explaining and curing diseases. Chinese, egyptians, hebrews, and greeks attributed abnormal behaviour to a demon or god who had taken possession of a person. Primary treatment for demonic possession exorcism: various techniques for casting an evil spirit out of an afflicted person, involved using magic, prayer, incantation, noisemaking, and concoctions made from sheep"s dung and wine. Insisted that mental disorders had natural causes and appropriate treatments. Believed that brain was central organ of intellectual activity and mental disorders were due to brain pathology. Also emphasized importance of heredity and predisposition and injuries to head could cause sensory or motor disorders. Classified mental disorders into three categories: mania, melancholia, phrenitis.
