Aretaeus of Cappadocia

(30-90 C.E.) a physician who accurately described the aura phase of epilepsy and formulated a sort of psychosomatic theory, stating that the emotions could have a disturbing effect on the humours and thus provoke psychic phenomena (Millon, 2004). He is also the first writer credited with identifying the alternation of depression and mania found in bipolar disorder (Aydemir & Malhi, 2007; Darton, 1999; Hills, 1901; Porter, 2002; Regis, 1894). He differentiated between two types of depression, that from within the patient (endogenous), and that due to situational events (reactive) (Rush, 1988). Furthermore he postulated that many mental disorders were merely exaggerations of normal processes (Millon, 2004), as well as identifying premorbid qualities in patients. Thus, people who were predisposed to mania were “irritable, violent, easily given to joy, and have a spirit for pleasantry or childish things”, while those predisposed to melancholy were “gloomy and sad often realistic yet prone to unhappiness.” Aretaeus is also credited with an early distinction between hallucinations and illusions (Blom, 2010).

Aretaeus of Cappadocia

References:

Aydemir, O., & Malhi, G.S. (2007). Aretaeus of Cappadocia. Acta Neuropsychiatrica,  19,  1, 62-63.

Blom, J.D. (2010). A dictionary of hallucinations. New York, NY: Springer.

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

Hills, F.L. (1901). Psychiatry – ancient, medieval and modern. The Popular Science Monthly 59, 3, 31-48.

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.

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

Regis, E. (1894). A practical manual of mental medicine. (2^nd edition). Utica, NY: American Journal of Insanity.

Rush, A.J. (1988). Clinical diagnosis of mood disorders. Clinical Chemistry 34, 5: 813-821.