A history of psychiatry in 1500 words

From the distant past

Ancient texts located the mind—intellect and emotions—in the heart. The Bible mentions King Solomon asking God for wisdom, “a discerning heart” (1 Kings 3:9), and the Quran states, “their hearts may reason” (Sura 22:46). The heart mirrors our emotions—with palpitations, rate changes, “missing” a beat and so on. These somatic sensations provided “evidence” for the heart as the seat of the mind, while mental disorders, typically lacking obvious brain pathology, provided no clues to the contrary. Today, the heart-emotion legacy continues into social media “”.

Classical Greek medicine—for example, Galen c.129-216 CE—conceptualised mental and physical wellbeing and dysfunction as the balance between four “humours:” black bile, yellow bile, blood, and phlegm. Remedies derived from this hypothesis perpetuated into the 19th century, such as those prescribed for King George III when afflicted with “madness.” His treatments included bleeding and purging, which aimed to relieve his suffering and restore his health. We cannot criticise previous generations of physicians for their knowledge and well meaning interventions, although their unquestioning reverence for medical doctrine leaves me feeling uneasy. When William Harvey …