The history of mental health and how treatment has evolved, from beatings to ketamine to mindfulness and meditation
- The earliest descriptions of depression appeared 4,000 years ago in Mesopotamia, where it was thought to be caused by demonic possession
- The development of clinical psychiatry and antidepressants, along with a much greater awareness of the illness, have been crucial to advances in treatment
World Mental Health Day, which falls each October, was conceived 28 years ago, not so long ago when you consider that the earliest descriptions of depression, for example, appeared 4,000 years ago in Mesopotamia, West Asia.
Back then depression was considered a spiritual rather than a physical condition, and was thought to be caused by demonic possession. Instead of doctors, priests were called, and treatments ranged from beatings to physical restraint and starvation in an effort to drive the devil out.
Things improved under the Greeks and Romans, who viewed depression through a more sympathetic lens; they believed its root was in the biological and psychological, and adopted therapies that included gymnastics, massage, diet, music, baths, bloodletting and a medication composed of poppy extract and donkey’s milk.
While the “medicine” might not hold today, a healthy diet, relaxation and exercise are still seen as effective components of a treatment approach.
A Persian doctor, Rhazes (865–925CE), was light years ahead of his time. He believed mental illness had its roots in neurology and advocated a form of behaviour therapy – not unlike today’s cognitive behavioural therapy which helps patients to challenge and change unhelpful thoughts and behaviour, regulate their emotions, and develop coping strategies to solve current problems.
The Middle Ages and the Renaissance saw deeply unsympathetic approaches to mental illness. The devils were back, and with them came exorcisms, drowning, burning at the stake, witch hunts – and even executions.