PSY 245 Lecture Notes - Lecture 1: Philippe Pinel, Brain Fever, Phlegm
Document Summary
Field of science that focuses on the development and treatment of psychological disorders. The belief that evil spirit dwells and controls one"s body and soul. Treatment: exorcism ritualistic casting out of evil spirits. Elaborate rites of prayer, noise making, and drinking brews. Flogging and starvation to render the body. Trephination drilling of the skull to provide an outlet for those irascible spirits. Separated medicine from religion, magic, and superstition. Illnesses had natural causes and should be treated like other--- Blood, black bile, yellow bile, and phlegm. Mental health depended on balance of humors aka 4 bodily fluids: Treatment: warm bath, massage, sobriety, healthy diet, tranquility. His ideas did not withstand later scientific inquiry. Shrines devoted to loving care of the mentally ill were established. Gheel in belgium became the forerunner of community mental health programs. Asylums became institutions of care for the mentally ill. Intention was good care, but with overcrowding came warehousing of patients.
