Lesson 10: Mental Illness

Lesson 10: Mental Illness - detailed: • Historical perspectives on mental illness (Supernatural to Biological views) • Contributions of Pinel, Dix, and Freud • Development of clinical psychology

What is the supernatural perspective on mental illness?

The belief that mental illness is caused by evil spirits, demonic possession, or divine punishment. Treatments included trephination (drilling skull holes to release spirits), exorcism, and magical/religious rituals.

What kind of treatments were used under the supernatural model?

Trephination, exorcisms, prayers, rituals, beatings, starvation, and inhumane physical punishments aimed at driving out evil spirits.

What is the biological/somatogenic perspective of mental illness?

It posits that mental illness has physical or physiological causes. Rooted in the ideas of Hippocrates and Galen, including theories like the imbalance of bodily humors.

How did Hippocrates and Galen contribute to the biological model?

Hippocrates proposed the four humors theory (blood, phlegm, yellow bile, black bile), linking mental illness to bodily imbalance. Galen added anatomical studies and suggested sexual deprivation as a cause for hysteria.

What were some early biological treatments for mental illness?

Bloodletting, purging, spinning, cold water immersion, and later, medications and rest cures.

How did moral treatment shift the biological model?

In the late 18th and 19th centuries, the biological model incorporated humane treatments like walks outdoors and occupational therapy due to the moral treatment movement led by figures like Pinel, Tuke, Chiarugi, and Dix.

What is the psychogenic (psychological) perspective of mental illness?

It suggests mental illness arises from psychological causes such as trauma, dissociation, and internal conflict. It became more accepted in the late 19th century.

What role did mesmerism play in the development of the psychogenic perspective?

Franz Mesmer's use of animal magnetism and hypnosis helped lay the groundwork for using psychological techniques (hypnosis) to treat mental illness.

What was Philippe Pinel’s contribution to the treatment of mental illness?

He is credited with initiating the moral treatment movement in France, famously unchaining women at the Salpêtrière asylum and promoting humane care for the mentally ill.

What was Dorothea Dix’s major contribution to mental health care?

She advocated for the creation of state-funded mental hospitals in the U.S. and helped improve conditions in asylums, making her a key figure in American mental health reform.

What were Freud’s contributions to clinical psychology and the psychogenic model?

Freud developed psychoanalysis, a theory and method of treatment based on unconscious conflict, repression, and childhood trauma. His work emerged from the tradition of hypnosis and studies of hysteria.

What was the Nancy School, and who were its key figures?

A French hypnosis-centered school founded by Emile Gallé, centered around Auguste Ambroise Liébeault. Hippolyte Bernheim was its main spokesperson. They used hypnosis for psychotherapy and emphasized the power of suggestion.

What did Bernheim believe about hypnosis?

That all people are suggestible to varying degrees, and that belief itself was a powerful healer. This advanced understanding of suggestibility and psychological healing.

What was the Paris School's role in hypnosis and mental illness?

Led by Jean-Martin Charcot at the Salpêtrière, it used hypnosis to study and treat hysteria, helping shift the medical community toward a psychological view of mental illness.

What were common symptoms of hysteria?

Partial paralysis, hallucinations, anxiety, fainting, insomnia, and sexual behavior—mostly diagnosed in women.

What did Charcot believe caused hysteria?

Initially, he believed it had biological causes. Later, he hypothesized it stemmed from psychological trauma, particularly following evidence from hypnotic suggestion experiments.

What did Charcot demonstrate with hypnosis?

That hysterical symptoms could be induced and relieved through hypnosis. He identified stages like lethargy, catalepsy, and somnambulism as therapeutic phases.

Who was Louise Augustine Gleizes, and why is she significant?

A teenage patient of Charcot with severe hysteria, including hallucinations and seizures, likely due to trauma. Her case supported the theory that trauma could lead to dissociation and hysteria.

What did Pierre Janet contribute to clinical psychology?

He argued hysteria was purely psychological and caused by dissociation from traumatic memories. He was one of the first to systematically study dissociation as a psychological defense mechanism.

How did Janet influence future psychological treatments?

He emphasized the therapist’s role in helping patients become conscious of their dissociated trauma. His work laid a foundation for Freud and the psychodynamic approach.

What happened to the diagnosis of hysteria in modern psychology?

It remained in the DSM until 1980 (DSM-III). Today, it is categorized under somatoform disorders, conversion disorder, or histrionic personality disorder.

How did the early 20th century frame mental illness treatment?

As a dual model with psychological and biological views competing. Biological treatments showed limited success, opening the door for psychogenic models like psychoanalysis.

How did clinical psychology develop from these historical perspectives?

Starting with hypnosis and the treatment of hysteria, clinical psychology evolved as a field blending therapeutic techniques (like talk therapy) with medical knowledge, particularly after Freud and Janet's contributions.

What makes Lesson 10 foundational for understanding Freud?

It sets the stage with hypnosis, hysteria, and trauma, all of which directly inform Freud's later development of psychoanalysis.