Hospital & community psychiatry
-
Hosp Community Psychiatry · Oct 1994
Historical ArticleReflections on antipsychiatry and stigma in the history of American psychiatry.
The author presents his perspectives on the relationship between antipsychiatry and the stigma of mental illness. Stigma has existed at least since biblical times, when madness as demonic possession and punishment for sin became codified in religious belief and practice. The antipsychiatry movement dates from the 18th century, when psychiatry first emerged as a medical specialty and the first mental hospitals were built. ⋯ In the late 19th century, treatment of hospitalized patients increased the stigma of mental illness and provided fuel for the antipsychiatry movement. During that period psychiatrists began to see heredity as the cause of mental illness, became pessimistic about restoring patients to sanity, and adopted essentially a custodial approach to care that included use of physical restraints. However, recent advances in biological treatments have undercut antipsychiatry and rekindled optimism about recovery that may go far in eliminating stigma.