Download Mental Illness: A History

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Bi-Polar
Depression
Suicide Attempt
Bulimia
Depression
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Depression
ADHD
Bi-Polar
Bi-Polar
Depression
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Darwin - Agoraphobia
Lincoln - Depression
Munch - Panic Disorder
Churchill - Bipolar
Beethoven - Bipolar
Michelangelo - Autism
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*46 per cent of Canadians think the term "mental illness" is
used as an excuse for poor behaviour and personal failings.
*1 in 10 Canadians think that people with mental illness
could "just snap out of it if they wanted."
*1 in 4 Canadians is afraid of being around someone who
suffers from serious mental illness.
*1 in 9 Canadians think depression is not a mental illness,
and one in two think it is not a serious condition.
*Statistics show that one in every five Canadians will have a
mental health problem at some point in their lives
*-Stats Canada
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*Prehistoric times – MI was result of evil spirits
*Treatment involved spells and trepanation
*Trepanation – drilling a hole through skull
to allow evil spirits to escape. 90% survival
rate. Practiced as far back as 10000 ya
*Ancient Greece and Rome – believed MI
came from environment. In Rome, public
funding for treatment of sick
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*Middle Ages – Superstition returned. MI
people were possessed by witches and spirits
or werewolves
*Treatment – exorcisms
*15th Century to 18th Century – Mental
institutions and asylums. Bethlem (London)
was 1st .
*Focused on keeping ill people
away from society
*Abuse and suffering common
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*Early 20th Century – Freud and peers attempt
to explain MI. WWI – shellshock and
emotional disorders
*1950s – Brutal treatments with brain
*Lobotomy – nerve fibers in brain are cut.
Symptoms disappear but patient remains
apathetic and childlike
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*1960s – present – Deinstitutionalisation
*Medication and therapy used to treat MI
*Most people able to become productive
members of society but many require
further care