Mental Illness Theory

Superior Essays
There were so many different beliefs on mental illnesses and where it came from or how it was created. An ancient Greek physician Claudius Galen believed that all illnesses originated from an out of balance humor or substances in the body. English physician Thomas Willis argued that an internal biochemical relationship was behind mental disorders. Bleeding, purging and even vomiting were thoughts to help and correct any imbalances to heal mental illnesses. It was also argued what came under “mental illnesses”. Due to misunderstanding of the biological unpinning’s of mental illnesses, signs of mood disorders such as schizophrenia and other mental sicknesses were viewed as signs of demonic possessions. Rituals and religion were used most time …show more content…
Deliberately creating a low blood sugar coma. This was one of the many treatments that caught many people’s attention. It was believed that changing insulin levels altered the wiring in the brain. The comas lasted anywhere from one hour to four hours. This form of treatment started in the 1930’s but soon ended in the 1960’s. This from of treatment lasted quit a while. Metrazol therapy: “precursor to ECT” Seizures were deliberately induced using medications such as stimulant metrazol to try and reduce mental illnesses. Metrazol was removed from the FDA is 1982. This form of treatment did not help at all. Seizures just created a sickness for the patient. Fever therapy, it was believed that if you induced a fever it would create it would cure another sickness. A study that was done by an Austrian psychiatrist named Julius Wagner-Jauregg infected a patient that had syphilis with malaria and completed cured the patient syphilis but, only caused by the induced fever that happened when infecting the patient with malaria. This was one of many studies conducted proving that other diseases were used to trigger fevers for the treatment of mental …show more content…
“A study done in 2006 found that a high prison population has a direct, negative effect on the psychological state of inmates. Overcrowding has been known to cause far more stressful situations and has prompted prison officials to react inappropriately on occasion due to being forced to accommodate ill-advised numbers of prisoners” http://online.ccj.pdx.edu/resources/news-articles/prison-overcrowding-is-a-growing-concern-in-the-u-s/ “Massachusetts faces substantial challenges in meeting the mental health needs of the prison population. While DOC has dramatically improved the quality of prison mental health services in recent years, additional changes are necessary. Particular attention should be paid to increasing disclosure and public accountability, reducing cultural and linguistic barriers to treatment, addressing disciplinary issues, improving reentry assistance and implementing more comprehensive quality improvement programs. Changes in these areas require the combined efforts of UMMS, DOC and the legislature. While the current budget concerns may delay the implementation of some improvements, fiscal concerns should not be permitted to undercut existing prison mental health programming. The significant mental health needs of the Massachusetts prison population require and deserve continued investment and attention”

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