Earliest evidence for mental illness?

A trepanned skull from the Iron Age.

It is believed that the existence of trepanation (from the Greek trypanon, meaning drill (Kelly, 2009)) holes in Neolithic skulls may have been an attempt at prehistoric psychosurgery to relieve the symptoms of mental illness (Arnott, Finger & Smith 2003; Brothwell, 1963; Hinshaw, 2007; Kelly, 2009; Mariani-Costantini, Catalano, di Gennaro, di Tota & Angeletti, 2000; Mashour, Walker & Martuza, 2005; McClennon, 1997; Millon, 2004; Missios, 2007; Mo, 2007; Porter, 2002; Sabbatini, 1997; Selling, 1940; Thackery & Harris, 2003). Such skulls have been found all over the world (Blos, 2003; Kelly, 2009). The smoothness and shininess of the bone around the trepanned holes is evidence that the patients not only survived the operation, but lived on for months or years while the bone regrew, with a survival rate of around 75% (Lillie, 1998; Thackery & Harris, 2003). However, there is no evidence to suggest that there was a medical philosophy, as there was little difference between medicine, magic and religion (Darton, 1999; Millon, 2004; Rao, 1978). Trepanation as a treatment in mental illness continued up to the nineteenth century (Tuke, 1892).


References:

Arnott, R., Finger, S., &  Smith, C.U.M. (Eds.) (2003). Trepanation: History, discovery, theory. Philadelphia, PA: Psychology Press.

Blos, V. (2003). Cranial surgery in ancient Mesoamerica. Retrieved from http://www.mesoweb.com/features/tiesler/Cranial.pdf

Brothwell, D.R. (1963). Digging up bones; the excavation, treatment and study of human skeletal remains. London, England: British Museum (Natural History).

Darton, K. (1999). Notes on the history of mental health care. London, England: Mind. Retrieved from http://www.mind.org.uk/Information/Factsheets/History+of+mental+health/Notes+on+the+History+of+Mental+Health+Care.htm

Hinshaw, S.P.  (2007). The mark of shame: Stigma of mental illness and an agenda for change. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.

Kelly, K. (2009). The history of medicine: Early civilizations prehistoric times to 500 C.E. New York, NY: Facts on File Inc.

Lillie, M.C. (1998). Cranial surgery dates back to Mesolithic. Nature 391: 854.

Mariani-Costantini, R., Catalano, P., di Gennaro, F., di Tota, G., & Angeletti,  L.R. (2000). New light on cranial surgery in ancient Rome. Lancet 355: 305-307.

Mashour, G.A., Walker, E.E., & Martuza, R.L. (2005). Psychosurgery: past, present and future. Brain Research Reviews 48, 409– 419.

McClennon, J. (1997). Shamanic healing, human evolution and the origin of religion. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 36, 3, 345-355.

Millon, T. (2004). Masters of the mind: Exploring the story of mental illness from ancient times to the new millennium. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons Inc.

Missios, S. (2007). Hippocrates, Galen, and the uses of trepanation in the ancient classical world. Neurosurgery Focus 23, 1, 1-9.

Mo (2007). An illustrated history of trepanation. Retrieved from http://neurophilosophy.wordpress.com/2007/06/12/an-illustrated-history-of-trepanation/

Porter, R. (2002). Madness: A brief history. Oxford, England: Oxford University Press.

Rao, A.V. (1978). Psychiatric thought in ancient India. Indian Journal of Psychiatry 20, 107-119.

Sabbatini, R.M.E (1997). The history of psychosurgery. Retrieved from http://www.cerebromente.org.br/n02/historia/psicocirg_i.htm

Selling, L.S. (1940). Men against madness. New York, NY: Greenberg.

Thackery, E., & Harris, M. (Eds.) (2003). The Gale encyclopedia of mental disorders. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Group, Inc.

Tuke, D.H. (1892). A dictionary of psychological medicine. Philadelphia, PA: P. Blakiston Son & Co.