For centuries, "madness" was managed by isolation. In the 17th and 18th centuries, the "Great Confinement" saw the mentally ill housed in workhouses and asylums like in London, often in inhumane conditions.
In antiquity, mental distress was often framed through the lens of the supernatural. Ancient civilizations often attributed "madness" to demonic possession or divine punishment. However, a shift toward medicalization began with (c. 460–370 BCE), who argued that mental disorders had natural causes stemming from imbalances in the four "humors" (blood, black bile, yellow bile, and phlegm). This was the first major step toward treating the mind as a function of the body. The Great Confinement and Moral Treatment History of Psychiatry and Medical Psychology: W...
Coping skills and emotional regulation. Social factors: Socioeconomic status, culture, and trauma. For centuries, "madness" was managed by isolation
Today, the field is defined by the . Practitioners recognize that a person’s mental health is determined by: Biological factors: Genetics and brain chemistry. This was the first major step toward treating