The History of Treatments for Mental Health - Essay Example

Demonic possession and witchcraft were often blamed for the fits of madness, bouts of insanity, schizophrenic disorders and several other mental problems which plagued some individuals in ancient times as well as the middle ages (Wikipedia, 2006).

In fact, as late as the eighteenth century, mental disorders were considered the result of unnatural acts performed with the help of the devil. The inquisition and other courts burned mentally ill people at the stake so as to save their souls by killing their mortal bodies. Such treatment was considered merciful and was carried out throughout the western world until the age of reason brought about a deeper understanding of the issues surrounding mental illnesses (Garcia, 1975). However, even that deeper understanding did not extend to a full understanding because during the late nineteenth century and the early twentieth century, it was a considerably common medical practice to cauterize or amputate the sexual organs of anyone who was thought to be falling mentally ill due to excessive masturbation (Garcia, 1975).

Even classical Freudians regarded masturbation as abnormal and as a contributing factor or side effect of inappropriate sexual development. Further along the same lines, In 1938, Egas Moniz, a Portuguese physician, developed the operation known as a Leukotomy to deal with abnormal behaviour (Garcia, 1975). This surgery operated on the principle under which the nerves to the frontal lobes of the brain are cut off. It met with resounding success since it made aggressive mental patients extremely docile and helped calm several individuals who suffered from bouts of anxiety (Leupo & Birge, 2001).

However, when this process was examined in light of modern discoveries, it was found that there could be no lasting benefits and the side effects was a destroyed mind and the life of a vegetable. Egas Moniz was awarded the Nobel Prize in medicine for his discovery (The Nobel Foundation, 2005). In conclusion, the central parallel between demonology and lobotomies is that the greatest minds of the time accepted them as the truth and as the best way to deal with mental patients. The central difference between them is that while witchcraft shows a complete lack of understanding of the workings of the human mind and of the psychological or biological aspects of mental illness, the procedure of a lobotomy shows that science had just begun to understand how the brain controls the rest of the body and the emotions of the individual.

At the same time, it does make a person wonder what future scientists would say about our presently followed methods of treating mental illnesses with medicine or therapy. Would they consider them as barbaric as we would consider burning a mentally ill person at the stake?