PSYCHOPATHOLOGY:Plato, Aristotle, Asclepiades, In The Middle Ages

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Introduction to Psychology PSY101

Lesson 35

PSYCHOPATHOLOGY

·Psychological illness, psychological disorders, or mental illness are referred to as psychopathology.

·The term is used to describe abnormal behavior.

Psychopathology is the area of study in psychology that primarily focuses upon the origin, development and

manifestation of behavioral and mental disorders.

Abnormal psychology is that branch of psychology that studies, describes, explains, and identifies abnormal

behavior.

·The observable behavior and mental experiences of an individual may be indicative of a mental or

psychological disorder. The overt behavior and other experiences provide cues to the development of

mental or psychological disorders.

·Psychiatrists and clinical psychologists treat mental disorders.

·Besides, they are also interested in studying and conducting research on the nature and role of the events

that cause these disorders e.g. past history of a person and other variables that contribute to mental illness.

Historical Perspective of Psychopathology

Human life existed, presumably, on earth even more than three million years ago, but the records of only

few thousand years are available to us.

One of the earliest traces in history, about the treatment of mental disorders date back to the stone age that

was more than half a million years ago.

·Headaches, convulsive attacks, and other brain related problems were treated, at that time, with stone

instruments in which a hole of about 2 cm was made in the skull of a person. This process was called

"trephining".

·Evidence is available that trephining was performed even 4000 to 5000 years ago.

·It is believed that the Stone Age people used to perform this procedure.

·The ancient explanations centered on the supernatural: gods, evil spirits, demons etc. It was thought that

the supernatural forces caused strange and troubled behaviors, as they resided within the body of the

person. The practice of trephining was based upon the idea that the evil spirits needed a hole to get out of

human body, thus ridding the person of its impact. In the ancient societies the influence of evil spirits was

the main focus:

Herodotus, the ancient Greek historian, wrote about a king who was driven insane by evil spirits.

According to the legend of Hercules, he killed his own children because evil spirits drove him mad.

·Trephining was done in order to allow the evil spirits to escape the body of a person so that he returned to

sanity. This view prevailed throughout the rich civilizations of that time such as the Egyptian, Hebrew,

Greek, and Chinese civilizations.

·One of the most primitive ways of treating abnormality, and freeing the person of the "evil" possession

was the use of "exorcism".

·Various techniques were used for casting the evil spirits out of the body of the afflicted person; these

included black magic, noisemaking, chanting, prayer, and the use of potions.

·In extreme case flogging and burning the patient were also used.

·This treatment were done by the "Shaman or the medicine man", who was regarded a very special

person possessing unusual healing powers.

·In Egypt and Greece, the tasks of treating the ill were eventually taken over by the priests.

·These priests were a combination of a priest, physician, psychologist and a magician.

·The cure however still depended on magic.

·But not all ancient thinkers believed in this approach.

·In the Golden Age of Greece, temples for healing the ill were maintained.

·This was like a revolution that took place at a time when knowledge about human anatomy and physiology

was very limited, and insufficient.

·During that time, Hippocrates, " the father of modern medicine", made his contributions in various

fields.Hippocrates

Believed in the rational knowledge for understanding and treating the psychological disorders and denied

the interventions that was used at that time for treating the abnormal.

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He that all illnesses, including mental disorders, had a natural cause and required natural treatments for

curing the patient.

He maintained that brain is the central organ for all activities including the intellectual abilities and that

disorders are the result of brain pathology.

·He also believed that abnormality was caused by the imbalances of some humors or liquids within the body

of a person.

·He gave theory of " humors" that account for the basic human activity. He was of the view that the perfect

health is the result of the proportionate mixture of these humors

·Maintained that four humors led to four temperaments forming one's personality. The temperaments were:

a) Sanguine (Cheerful and Active)

b) Melancholic (Sad)

c) Choleric (Angry and Aggressive)

d) Phlegmatic (Calm and Passive)

Hippocrates maintained that epilepsy is caused by insufficient air carried by the veins to the brain and limbs.

Socrates

For him, soul is most important it should be properly looked after.

It is not just one faculty or any particular material entity; rather it is a broad area comprising intelligence and

character, or man's conscious personality.

He maintained that thought and reasoning are the building blocks of personal worth and happy life.

It can be concluded that problems with the soul led to abnormal behavior.

Plato

Believed in the humane treatment of mentally ill patients

He was of the view that disorders developed when the conflict arises between emotions and reason

But despite having modern thoughts, he still believed that mental disorders were partly treated by the divine

powers too.

Aristotle

He mainly followed Hippocrates' theory of mental disorders.

Gave different ideas about many emotional states such as anger, fear, envy, hatred, courage etc.

Asclepiades

First ever to distinguish between the acute and chronic mental disorders

Also differentiated between delusions, hallucination and illusions.

The movement of atoms in the body caused disease.

He advocated the practice of baths, dieting, exercise, and massage for curing disease.

Galen

Most outstanding physician of antiquity after Hippocrates.

He regarding the anatomy and nervous system of human beings as he was performing dissections

on animals made influential contributions.

The following many centuries did not see a major breakthrough regarding the understanding and

treatment of abnormality.

In The Middle Ages

In the middle ages of Europe, religious thought, dominated the understanding and treatment of

mental disorders.

This period lasted from the fall of the Roman Empire in 5th century AD till the

15th century.

It was thought that the mentally ill were possessed by demons or the devil.

They were accused of being witches who could infect others with madness.

As a result the mentally ill were treated not humanely but with religious

inquisition and barbaric treatment.

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However, many thinkers even at that time believed that mental disorders did have

a physical cause.

They believed that the imbalance in the four basic humors, grief, and poor diet

caused such illnesses.

In The Islamic World

The mentally ill were treated in a good and humane manner by the physicians

during the rule of Muslim caliphs. Asylums were made for the mentally ill.

Special baths, diet, medication, music, and pleasant environment were provided to

the patients.

Such asylums began in 8th century AD.

The first one was established in Baghdad, and was followed by others in Cairo,

Damascus and Fez.

In Europe

The mentally ill underwent inhuman treatment for long.

The situation prevailed even in the 17th and 18th century AD.

They were either left to wander in wilderness, or kept isolated in institutions.

Many hospitals in Britain, France and Italy became notorious for their callous

way of treating the mentally ill.

However with growing public awareness the need for a change was felt.

La Bicetre hospital in Paris, France, was a pioneer in this regard.

Pussin was the superintendent of a ward for incurable mental patients.

He released patients from shackles, and the staff was forbidden from beating

them.

Philippe Pinel who became the chief physician of La Bicetre hospital continued

this practice.

Developments in 17th And 18th Centuries

The period of 17th century is regarded as the " age of reason", and that of 18th century as the " age of

enlightenment".

Great changes as well as discoveries were made at that time in a number of fields including psychology

Franz Friedrich Anton Mesmer (1734- 1815)

Mesmer proposed that a power similar to magnetism existed in humans.

This, animal magnetism, exercised a powerful influence on our body.

He asserted that animal magnetism had a medicinal value.

He believed that maintaining and balancing the magnetic field could cure mental

illnesses.

He was of the view that hand movements and their magnetic force were enough to

produce dramatic changes in the ill persons.

He introduced mesmerism, a trance like state, as a curative technique. Mesmerism was similar to today's

hypnosis. He made more use of magnetism than suggestion.

The major breakthrough took place in the later half of the 18th century.

Philippe Pinel: (1745-1826)

His contributions began with the revolutionary changes at the La Bicetre hospital in Paris. He

believed that abnormal behavior is caused by some hereditary defects or nervous system defects. He was of

the view that mental patients should be treated with great care as he severely condemned chaining and

shackling of the mentally ill.

Due to his efforts, La Bicetre and Salpetriere hospitals were regarded as the first

modern hospitals for caring and curing the insane.

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Pinel gave the concept of Moral Treatment. He said that the mental patients should be treated with

kindness and sensitivity. Cruelty and violence were discouraged and forbidden.

William Tuke

Tuke established the York Retreat in rural England in 1796. Here, mental patients were provided

compassionate treatment. This retreat became a model for others to follow.

Wilhelm Griesinger:(1817-1868)

He believed that the best way to understand mental disorders is to assume that they are caused by brain

pathology. He firmly believed on the organic origin of mental disorders rather than the psychological cause.

Kraepelin: (1856-1926)

Published the first system of classification of mental diseases.

This system could help to label different disorders as psychosis and neurosis.

Kraepelin clearly differentiated between `dementia praecox' (now known as schizophrenia) and

`depressive psychosis'; severe mental disorders.

These severe disorders were thought to be developed out of the organic reasons.

Jean M. Charcot: (1825- 1893)

French neurologist.

Charcot was most interested in observing and treating hysterical patients.

He noticed that these patients had strange beliefs about their own bodily functions. He developed

techniques for treating hysterical patients as well as also being able to induce hysterical symptoms in

normal individuals

Defining Abnormality

What is abnormal behavior?

Abnormality can be defined in a number of ways.

People identify, understand and explain abnormality according to their past experience, common

information, cultural tradition, societal attitude, and/or professional knowledge. Definitions of Abnormal

Behavior

1. Statistical definition

People deviating from the norm are considered "abnormal".

·BUT what if majority of people indulge into erratic behavior?

·What about the creative artists who did not go along the norm?

2. Abnormality as deviation from "Ideal"Ideal refers to the standard toward which most people strive.

Abnormality, according to this definition, is not striving toward the ideal.

BUT what about those for whom the `ideal' is not the `ideal'?

For example a student who is a very good painter and does not want to pursue

conventional education.

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