Insanity: The Effect of the Scientific Revolution on the Treatment of Mental Illness

Date

April 2022

Location

Schewel 207

Description

This paper discusses the effect of the scientific revolution on the treatment of mental illness. Specific ailments analyzed include melancholia and dementia, and misdiagnoses are briefly touched on. In essence, it is argued that the scientific revolution not only made the treatment of mental illness more humane, but increased the popularity of pharmaceutical treatments while decreasing the religiously-based and physical treatments that were prevalent prior to the 1800s. Likewise, it is argued that misdiagnoses became less prevalent and thus treatments were more effective. Works analyzed include those of Benjamin Rush, Philippe Pinel, and J.E.D. Esquirol, whose methodology is still referenced today.

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Insanity: The Effect of the Scientific Revolution on the Treatment of Mental Illness

Schewel 207

This paper discusses the effect of the scientific revolution on the treatment of mental illness. Specific ailments analyzed include melancholia and dementia, and misdiagnoses are briefly touched on. In essence, it is argued that the scientific revolution not only made the treatment of mental illness more humane, but increased the popularity of pharmaceutical treatments while decreasing the religiously-based and physical treatments that were prevalent prior to the 1800s. Likewise, it is argued that misdiagnoses became less prevalent and thus treatments were more effective. Works analyzed include those of Benjamin Rush, Philippe Pinel, and J.E.D. Esquirol, whose methodology is still referenced today.