History of Psychiatry

July 07, 2020

A paradigm shift is needed in order to solve the unprecedented complexities and challenges associated with the current global mental health crisis.

June 25, 2020

Adolf Hitler, the genocidal monster of the twentieth century, would not seem to be someone likely to seek psychological counseling, let alone respond.

May 28, 2020

Have we learned anything? Looking back at the Spanish flu epidemic as the world deals with the COVID pandemic.

May 08, 2020

Treatment for "the scourge of psychiatry" involved malariotherapy-infecting the patient with malaria; the resulting high fevers were believed to kill off the syphilis organisms.

April 29, 2020

In a time of panic, despair, and demoralization, art continues to inspire the author's reflections as it has over the last 40 years. Here, he shares some images that he finds inspirational and helpful. Even in winter there is hope.

April 16, 2020

This month in history: Determined to regard his patients as individuals, Swiss psychiatrist Eugen Bleuler sought to understand his patients and coined the term schizophrenia.

March 26, 2020

Across the centuries, March has been an eventful month for the insanity defense on both sides of the Atlantic, and the McNaughten rule remains the prevalent standard to this day.

March 09, 2020

Pseudopatients and their discontents: an historical perspective.

February 11, 2020

As historians and mental health professionals both know, in the words of the writer William Faulkner, “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.”

January 29, 2020

In the early years, treatment was largely restricted to restraint and sedation with great emphasis placed on fresh air for prevention of mental illness. Later, the aim of treatment was to prevent transfer of patients to country asylums.