Gritting Your Teeth & Such: Mental Healthcare in the Far Past

_{Photo by Tima Miroshnichenko}

Asylum Scandals by Patricia Lubeck focuses on the many horrors and tragedies that occurred inside some specific asylums in the past. Reading the madness that went inside those walls, you’d be infinitely glad that there have been substantial reforms and changes to their format.

Yet, while it can be said that the people then who were managing and working for the asylums were terribly misled in the treatment of their patients, they did not believe gritting your teeth was a valid way of coping with your illnesses. They still had the idea and the hope and the knowledge that mental health could be treated.

For a long, long time, it was the “common sense” that mental illness was an aberration, a sickness of the soul, and something that only “fate” could heal.

Mental Healthcare in the Far Past

We talk about mental health openly now (mostly), acknowledging its importance and striving for better understanding and treatment.

But what about those who struggled centuries ago?

Gritting Your Teeth & Unseen Things

The earliest perspectives on mental illness were often entangled with spiritual and supernatural beliefs.

In many ancient cultures, unusual behaviors were seen as coming from the influence of malevolent spirits, demonic possession, or the wrath of gods. Evidence for this can be found in ancient texts from Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Greece. For example, the Edwin Smith Papyrus, an ancient Egyptian medical text, describes cases of what might be considered mental disturbances, attributing them to supernatural forces. Similarly, in ancient Greece, mental illness was sometimes seen as a punishment from the gods, with figures like Heracles driven to madness by Hera’s vengeful wrath.

Treatment in these times was ritualistic and aimed at expelling the offending spirits or appeasing the anger of the gods. Exorcisms, incantations, and offerings were common practices.

_{Photo by Dziana Hasanbekava}

Gritting Your Teeth & the Imbalance of Humors

Soon, though, some ancient cultures began to develop more naturalistic approaches. Or, at least, theories that did not involve the idea of spirits and such. In ancient Greece, for instance, people like Hippocrates believed that imbalances in bodily humors–blood, phlegm, yellow bile, and black bile–were the origins of both physical and mental ailments. While ultimately incorrect, this theory of humors was the foundation for a significant shift towards a more scientific understanding of disease. Treatment based on the theory of humors often involved restoring balance through diet, exercise, purging, and bloodletting.

Gritting Your Teeth & Personal Piety

The medieval period in Europe saw a resurgence of religious influence on the understanding of mental illness.

While the idea of demonic possession remained a common explanation amongst many of the peasantry, the Church also recognized the possibility of natural causes. Mental illness was often viewed through a moral lens, with conditions like melancholy associated with sin or spiritual weakness.

Treatment frequently involved prayer, religious rituals, and pilgrimages to holy sites.

However, the medieval period also saw the development of the first institutions that could be considered precursors to modern asylums. These were often attached to monasteries or hospitals and provided care for individuals with mental illness. These institutions also housed individuals with a variety of conditions, including physical ailments and social deviance.

The rise of witch hunts, fueled by fear and superstition, led to the persecution of individuals suspected of witchcraft and devilry, many of whom likely suffered from mental illness. These accusations of witchcraft often targeted women, people of color, queer folk, and people of other faiths.

These individuals were subjected to horrific tortures and executions. This was a precursor to the horrors that would be examined in Asylum Scandals.

Gritting Your Teeth & The Enlightenment

With its emphasis on reason and scientific inquiry, the Enlightenment brought about a gradual shift in the understanding of mental illness.

The theory of humors began to lose its grip, replaced by more biological and psychological explanations. The 18th and 19th centuries saw the rise of psychiatry as a distinct medical specialty.

Thinkers advocated for more humane treatment of the mentally ill, arguing against the use of chains and restraints. This advocacy would only become a reality today.

_{Photo by Kevin Bidwell}

For a more in-depth exploration of the recent travesties of mental healthcare, Patricia Lubeck’s Asylum Scandals is available for order through this link.