Galen

(130-200), Roman physician of the second century A.D. (Byers, 1998; Thackery & Harris, 2003).  Galen was a firm believer in the four humours theory of disease causation of Hippocrates (Albrecht, 2006; Burns, 2001; Colp, 2000; Hills, 1901; Kelly, 2009a; Kelly, 2009b; Keyser & Irby-Massey, 2008; Merenda, 1987; Moulton, 1998; Skultans, 1987; Tuke, 1892; White, 2006), but applied the theory less strictly than previous authors (Stone, 2006). For example an excess of yellow bile was responsible for both mania and phrenitis (Stone, 2006). Whereas Hippocrates had stated that for good health to follow, the humours had to be in balance throughout the body, Galen argues that this balance was only necessary in each organ (Kelly, 2009b). This implied that remedies specific to each organ of the body were possible. He also believed that mental disturbances could sometimes be caused by accidents (such as a blow to the head), sometimes by brain fevers, and sometimes by hereditary flaws (which might produce retardation). He viewed hysteria not as a result of a wandering womb, but due to toxic vapours that formed in the uterus because of insufficient sexual intercourse (Albrecht, 2006; Millon, 2004). Galen also used the term “alienation” for any behaviours that deviated from social norms, particularly if that behaviour was bizarre (Stone, 2006). This term was to remain current until the 19^th century, along with the related term “alienist” for any doctor who treated mental disturbance (Stone, 2006).

Galen

References:

Albrecht, G.L. (Ed.) (2006). Encyclopedia of disability. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications Inc.

Burns, W.E. (2001). The scientific revolution: an encyclopedia. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-Clio Inc.

Byers, P.K. (Ed.) (1998). Encyclopedia of world biography. (2^nd edition). Detroit, MI: Gale Research.

Colp, R.  (2000). History of psychiatry. In Sadock, B.J & Sadock, V.A. (eds.), Comprehensive text book of psychiatry. (7^th edition). Baltimore, MD.: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins.

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

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

Kelly, K (2009b). The history of medicine: the Middle Ages. New York, NY: Facts on File Inc.

Keyser, P.T., & Irby-Massey, G.L. (2008). The encyclopedia of ancient natural scientists: the Greek tradition and its many heirs. New York, NY: Routledge.

Merenda, P.F. (1987). Toward a four-factor theory of temperament and/or personality. Journal of Personality Assessment 51(3), 367-374.

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.

Moulton, C. (Ed.) (1998). Ancient Greece and Rome: an encyclopedia for students. New York, NY: Charles Scribner’s Sons.

Skultans, V (1987). Insanity: history. Retrieved from http://www.answers.com/topic/insanity-history

Stone, M.H. (2006). History of schizophrenia and its antecedents. In Lieberman, J.A., Stroup, T.S., & Perkins, D.O. The American Psychiatric Publishing textbook of schizophrenia. Washington D.C.: American Psychiatric Publishing Inc.

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.

White, K. (2006). The Sage dictionary of health and society. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications Ltd.

quotations on madness 4

“'But I don’t want to go among mad people,' Alice remarked.

'Oh, you can’t help that,' said the Cat. 'We’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad.'

'How do you know I’m mad?' said Alice.

'You must be,” said the Cat. 'or you wouldn’t have come here.'”


Lewis Carroll

Margery Kempe

The earliest autobiography (Ruud, 2006) in the English language was written in 1436. The Book of Margery Kempe was the dictated account of her life by Margery Kempe, a Norfolk woman, who gave a clear account of her postpartum psychosis (Andrews, Briggs, Porter, Tucker & Waddington, 1997; Kent, 2003; Porter, 1988; Porter, 2002; Ruud, 2006; Schaus, 2006), during which she had visual hallucinations of angels and male sexual organs (Atkinson, 1983; Goodman, 2002; Kempe, 1436; Roffe, 2000), and spoke regularly with Jesus and Mary (Lochrie, 1994; Roberts, 1981). Because she attempted suicide by biting her wrists (which left permanent scars), she was restrained in a storeroom for eight months (Miller, n.d.), and at one point was suspected of demonic possession. Her “cure” came about through being read the scriptures, and no further psychiatric disturbance occurred for her other thirteen pregnancies (St. Margaret’s Church, King’s Lynn, 2003). Her husband, however, suffered a form of dementia after a blow to the head (Andrews, Briggs, Porter, Tucker & Waddington, 1997).

Margery Kempe

References:

Andrews, J., Briggs, A., Porter, R., Tucker, P., & Waddington, K. (1997). The history of Bethlem. London, England: Routledge.

Atkinson, C.W. (1983). Mystic and pilgrim: the book and the world of Margery Kempe. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.

Goodman, A. (2002). Margery Kempe and her world. London, England: Pearson Education Ltd.

Kempe, M. (1436). The book of Margery Kempe. Retrieved from http://www.lib.rochester.edu/camelot/teams/staley.htm

Kent, D. (2003). Snake pits, talking cures and magic bullets – a history of mental illness. Brookfield, CT: Twenty-First Century Books.

Lochrie, K. (1994). Margery Kempe and translations of the flesh. Philadelphia, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press.

Miller, V. (n.d.). The life and pilgrimages of Margery Kempe. Retrieved from http://chass.colostate-pueblo.edu/history/seminar/kempe/victoria.htm

Porter, R. (1988). Margery Kempe and the meaning of madness. History Today, 38, 2, 39-44.

Roberts, A. (1981). Mental health history timeline. Retrieved from http://www.studymore.org.uk/mhhtim.htm

Roffe, D. (2000). Perceptions of insanity in medieval England. Retrieved from http://www.roffe.co.uk/keele.htm

Ruud, J. (2006).  Encyclopedia of medieval literature. New York, NY: Facts on File Inc.

Schaus, M. (Ed.) (2006). Women and gender in medieval Europe: an encyclopedia. New York, NY: Routledge.

St. Margaret’s Church, King’s Lynn (2003). Margery Kempe. Retrieved from http://www.stmargaretskingslynn.org.uk/margery_kempe.htm