schizophrenia+history

 History of Schizophrenia

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Also known as “madness,” “insanity,” or “lunacy” First actual description in literature of schizophrenia was in 1656 when Georg Trosse, a minister in England, wrote about his own mental breakdown. Emil Kraepelin, a psychiatrist in the late 1800s, observed the disorder and concluded that it was a kind of premature mental distoration. He called it dementia praecox. Eugen Bleuler, a Swiss psychiatrist in the early 1900s, also studied the disorder. He combined two Greek words //schizin// meaning “split” and //–phren// meaning “mind” and came up with the term schizophrenia. Many believed it was referring to split personality, which it wasn’t. He identified 4 main features of schizophrenia, also known as the 4 A’s: 1) Disturbances of **affect** (emotion) 2) ** Ambivalent ** (simultaneous conflicting) feelings and attitudes 3) Irrational mental **associations**  4) ** Autism **, or self-absorbed withdrawal

-Bore holes in their heads to release evil spirits -Chained to a wall (to control behavior) -Confined to mental hospitals (did nothing) -Electroconvulsive therapy (low-voltage electric current is passed through the brain; shock produces convulsions in the patient. Patient is first put to sleep w/anesthetic; sometimes gives relief from symptoms of mental illness) [PRETTY MUCH NONEFFECTIVE FOR SCHIZOPHRENIA] -Psychosurgery (disconnects several sections of the brain trying to get rid of hallucinations) //[frontal lobotomy]//
 * What they did in the past (19th century)**
 * straight jacket
 * a lunatic’s chariot (schizophrenic patients are chained together, pulling the chariot)
 * the crib
 * suspensory technique (suspended people in the air)
 * NO LONGER 19th CENTURY**

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