History Of Psychiatry Research Articles

Death, Burial, and Commemoration in 19th- and Early–20th Century British ‘Lunatic Asylum’ and ‘Mental Hospital’ Cemeteries

Abstract Throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth century, ‘lunatic asylums’ and ‘mental hospitals’ in Britain were legally obliged to provide for the burial of deceased patients whose remains were not reclaimed by relatives or guardians. While burial in local churchyards and cemeteries was idealised in administrative guidance, burial frequently took place in onsite asylum cemeteries instead. Due to their poor historic documentation, these spaces and practices have not been readily foregrounded within existing literature and have received only limited scholarly address. In the present paper, a broad range of documentary and material evidence will be presented, correlated, and thematically arranged, facilitating for the first time a sustained review and interrogation of these spaces and practices. This will contextualise further enquiry into the historic emotional significance of these sites and practices, employing theoretical lenses of ‘remembering’ and ‘forgetting’ in relation to the navigation of grief, memory, and complicated loss. This paper will thereby demonstrate how novel multidisciplinary research methodologies – further to facilitating the reconstruction of understudied spaces and practices in the history of psychiatry – can also be used to gain insight into the emotional histories of marginalised populations of the past, many of whom are under-represented in fragmentary and authoritatively authored historic documentary records.

Compensation for National Socialist Persecution as a Catalyst for a Paradigm Shift - A Contribution to the History of Psychiatry in the Early Federal Republic of Germany

After WW II, Holocaust survivors often faced negative assessments by German psychiatrists when claiming compensation for psychological damage, a fact that was met with criticism. This study examines how as a result the prevailing doctrine on trauma sequelae underwent a transformation. Academic contributions in German language from 1946 to 1969 are analyzed for their para-digmatic views on the etiology of mental disorders after war and Nazi persecution. Only a new generation of psychiatrists was able to develop more adequate psychotraumatological concepts by using anthropological and occasionally psychoanalytic theoretical elements. At the same time this also questioned the medically oriented concept of illness in psychiatry. Less the persistence of anti-Semitic sentiments but rather internal scientific reasons such as an unevidenced dogmatism obstructed the the advancement of science.

Franco Basaglia (1924-1980): the reformer of the Italian psychiatric system - Psychiatry in history.

Franco Basaglia (1924-1980): the reformer of the Italian psychiatric system - Psychiatry in history.

Assen Jablensky and the history of psychiatry.

Assen Jablensky and the history of psychiatry.

Equanimity in psychiatric medicine: the mind in the middle - Psychiatry in history.

Equanimity in psychiatric medicine: the mind in the middle - Psychiatry in history.

Social psychiatry in Oxford and its ecological niche, 1959-1988.

This paper reflects on a special edition of the journal History of Psychiatry and a related symposium held at Somerville College, Oxford, exploring the innovations in mental healthcare in Oxfordshire led by Dr Bertram Mandelbrote between 1959 and 1988. I draw on clinical culture, biography, mental health policy and my lived experience to understand Mandelbrote's life and work, and his legacy and lessons for contemporary psychiatrists. I explore the ecological niche that Mandelbrote created and conclude with the probable importance of his relationship with Professor Michael Gelder, who led the University of Oxford Department of Psychiatry at the time.

Neurosyphilis and a Nobel Prize: psychiatrist Julius Wagner-Jauregg's pyrotherapy - Psychiatry in history.

Neurosyphilis and a Nobel Prize: psychiatrist Julius Wagner-Jauregg's pyrotherapy - Psychiatry in history.

Du surnaturel à une « théogénie pathologique » ? Georges Dumas, psychologue esthète face à quelques contrastes nosographiques

Georges Dumas (1866–1946) a psychologist and psychiatrist who has fallen into obsolescence, was interested in religion as a means for investigating psychopathological knowledge. Both his intellectual career and his work and teaching attest to this fact. At the crossroads between mysticism and madness, his contribution to the Société Médico-Psychologique – “Mentalité paranoïde et mentalité primitive” (“Paranoid mentality and primitive mentality”) (1934) – a seminal text – led him to outline a nosographic classification (derealistic psychoses vs realistic psychoses) intended to circumscribe the expression of the supernatural according to mental illnesses (1946). In light of his project, several questions were sorted out, articulating perspectives and limits with regard to the contemporary era. This article addresses aspects of the history of psychiatry based on various archives.

Neuroimaging education in psychiatric training.

As the histories of psychiatry, neurology, and neuroimaging interweave through time, psychiatry has only recently started to recognize the need to embrace neuroimaging like its sibling specialty. While imaging in psychiatric research is well accepted, there is current clinical utility as well. Standards for psychiatry residency and board certification in the USA and abroad have carved out a place for neuroimaging, but the implementation is variable and sparse in the USA. The few publications that describe neuroimaging teaching to psychiatrists have barriers to widespread adoption, and no comprehensive curricular solution has been developed. In this context, we describe some of the barriers and propose solutions to shape the future of neuroimaging education for psychiatrists.

Franz Nissl: psychiatrist and 'Prinzenarzt' to King Otto of Bavaria and his landmark discovery in 1899 - Psychiatry in history.

Franz Nissl: psychiatrist and 'Prinzenarzt' to King Otto of Bavaria and his landmark discovery in 1899 - Psychiatry in history.

Scientia Sexualis and Gender Bias in the History of Psychiatry

Scientia Sexualis and Gender Bias in the History of Psychiatry

Cheerfulness in the history of psychiatry.

In 1762, Louis-Antoine Marquis de Caraccioli (1719-1803), a prolific writer of the eighteenth century, dedicated a book to a psychological theme that medicine has forgotten: 'gaité' in French, which we will translate as 'cheerfulness'. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, this work inspired two doctoral theses in medicine, one defended in Montpellier, the other in Paris. In their texts, Louis Monferran (1785-?) and Vincent Rémi Giganon (1794-1857) explored the therapeutic benefits of the medical prescription of cheerfulness. In addition to lifestyle recommendations, they focused on the psychotropic substances available to them: alcohol, coca, hemp and opiates. In an original and novel way, Giganon introduced and recommended 'le gaz oxydule d'azote inspiré', or inhaled nitrous oxide gas.

Penal mental health and Soviet psychiatric abuses in The Gulag Archipelago (1973) by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (1918-2008) - Psychiatry in History.

Penal mental health and Soviet psychiatric abuses in The Gulag Archipelago (1973) by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (1918-2008) - Psychiatry in History.

Bildwissenschaft and revolution. The story of Marco Cavallo and its significance in the history of psychiatry

This contribution explores the significance of Marco Cavallo in the history of psychiatry using Walter Benjamin’s concept of Bildwissenschaft. Here the concept of the image and the idea of fragmentation are seen as bringing to the surface certain thought-images (Denkbilder). As properly pre-theoretical (vor-weltlich) elements of our cognition, images operate revolutions: breaking from the familiar and opening a pathway to the exposure to shock [Chockerlebnis]. This gathers together the power of images to configure cognizability, as well as their possibility to rewrite history through the relationship of present to past. Marco Cavallo is offered as both image and metaphor for what is concealed behind mental health experiences, and as an image of the geography of “inside and outside”, both in terms of social and public spaces, as well as collective practices of care.

Metacommunity: the current status of psychiatry and mental healthcare and implications for the future

We review the origins and history of community psychiatry and the challenges posed to it by advancing technology and the neoliberal political economy and society that have prevailed since the 1990s. We summarise both achievements and shortcomings and argue that the term ‘community’ fails to acknowledge the gap between its original ambition and the outcomes of its implementation. We argue that, because of the changes that have taken place, the implementation of community psychiatry's objectives as conceived originally is likely to continue to fail. To sharpen current awareness and thinking and optimise future policy discourse and service strategies we revisit the concept of ‘metacommunity’. This is a historical descriptive label that aims to encapsulate the fundamental transformations that have taken place. These in turn demand of psychiatrists and other mental health providers both more socially critical thinking and mental health activism in the public sphere. Ultimately, beyond both community and metacommunity psychiatry, what is required is a democratic psychiatry.

Are the concepts of "chronic mania" in German-speaking psychiatry around 1900 early contributions to the disorder of the adult form of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)?

The adult form of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has increasingly become afocus of adult psychiatry. Despite long-established diagnostic criteria and specific therapeutic approaches for the disorder, the common misconception that ADHD is a"fad" has persisted. Examining the history of psychiatry can make an educational contribution by showing that the adult form of ADHD is a continuously existing illness phenomenon. The present study examines the discussion of sometimes prominent authors about "chronic mania" in German-speaking psychiatry around 1900. The individual concepts were analyzed for their content and compared with each other and with modern diagnostic manuals for adult ADHD. The aim of this work is to question and discuss whether these "chronic-manic concepts" are part of the conceptual history of adult ADHD and whether agap in the history of this disorder can be filled with their help. It is concluded that in the early twentieth century neurologists reported and discussed about patients who nowadays would almost certainly receive the diagnosis of ADHD. The psychiatrists had difficulty in classifying this disorder into their nosological schemes but their "chronic-manic concepts" show clear parallels to the current diagnostic criteria for adult ADHD and its symptoms.

Cluster analysis dissecting cognitive deficits in older adults with major depressive disorder and the association with neurofilament light chain

BackgroundCognitive impairment is a growing problem with increasing burden in global aging. Older adults with major depressive disorder (MDD) have higher risk of dementia. Neurofilament light chain (NfL) has been proven as a potential biomarker in neurodegenerative disease, including dementia. We aimed to investigate the association between cognitive deficits and NfL levels in older adults with MDD.MethodsIn this cross-sectional study, we enrolled 39 MDD patients and 15 individuals with mild neurocognitive disorder or major neurocognitive disorder, Alzheimer’s type, as controls, from a tertiary psychiatric hospital. Both groups were over age 65 and with matched Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) score. Demographic data, clinical variables, and plasma NfL levels were obtained. We used cluster analysis according to their cognitive profile and estimated the correlation between plasma NfL levels and each cognitive domain.ResultsIn the MDD group, participants had higher rate of family psychiatry history and current alcohol use habit compared with controls. Control group of neurocognitive disorders showed significantly lower score in total MMSE and higher plasma NfL levels. Part of the MDD patients presented cognitive deficits clustered with that of neurocognitive disorders (cluster A). In cluster A, the total MMSE score (r=-0.58277, p=0.0287) and the comprehension domain (r=-0.71717, p=0.0039) were negatively correlated to NfL levels after adjusting for age, while the associations had not been observed in the other cluster.ConclusionsWe noted the negative correlation between NfL levels and cognition in MDD patients clustered with neurodegenerative disorder, Alzheimer’s type. NfL could be a promising candidate as a biomarker to predict subtype of patients in MDD to develop cognitive decline. Further longitudinal studies and within MDD cluster analysis are required to validate our findings for clinical implications.

Exploring the legacy of Ibn Imrân’s Treatise on melancholia in contemporary psychiatry

IntroductionMelancholia is a concept deeply intertwined with the history of mood disorders in psychiatry. Isháq Ibn Imrân, a prominent Arab-Muslim physician of the 12th century, contributed significantly to the understanding of melancholia in his era, its. His treatise is the oldest surviving work entirely dedicated to melancholia, making it a pivotal milestone in the history of psychiatry. It is noteworthy that Ibn Imrân’s work has often been overlooked in Western psychiatry. This oversight highlights the enduring relevance of his insights within the context of modern psychiatry.ObjectivesThe objective of this study is to assess the clinical and therapeutic aspects delineated by Ibn Imrân in his treatise on melancholia for their contemporary accuracy and relevance within the field of modern psychiatry.MethodsThe review method for the Isháq Ibn Imrân treatise involves a detailed analysis of the original Arabic text and its French translation by Adel Omrani and Radhi Jazi from the Tunisian Academy of Sciences, Letters, and Arts Beit el Hekma. This includes studying the content, structure, and historical context, as well as comparing the Arabic and French versions for accuracy.ResultsThe treatise is divided into two parts to clinical examination and treatment. While some of the terminology may differ from contemporary classifications, the core observations resonate with modern psychiatric knowledge. The clinical form is described as sadness, loss of pleasure, social withdrawal, dark thoughts, and loss of interest, along with somatic manifestations: sleep disturbances such as onset insomnia or hypersomnia, as well as weight loss. Additionally, perceptual disturbances, including elementary visual hallucinations (black silhouettes), are mentioned. Regarding etiologies, perinatal factors are mentioned in the treatise (“mood of the uterus”), along with six postnatal acquired causes that must be balanced in an individual: movement and rest, sleep and wakefulness, food and drink, depletion and retention, ambient air and location and psychological torment. A seasonal pattern is described, with an association between melancholia and autumn. Several clinical forms are described, with the most prominent being catatonia compared to epilepsy, in its two agitated and inhibited forms. The second part of his treatise is dedicated to treatment, focusing on individualized approaches such as talk therapy, music therapy, and dietary interventions. Ibn Imrân also describes mental strategies to correct false beliefs. For the pharmacological treatment, specific herbs has been used via oral, nasal, or intra-rectal.ConclusionsIn conclusion, Isháq Ibn Imrân’s treatise on melancholia represents a timeless cornerstone in the history of psychiatry. This historical treasure serves as a reminder of the enduring quest to understand and alleviate the complexities of mental health.Disclosure of InterestNone Declared

Who benefits from multifamily psychoeducation groups ? Descriptive anaysis of participants

IntroductionGuidelines for relapse prevention in schizophrenia recommend psychoeducation for patients and caregivers (Bighelli I, Leucht S et al. Lancet Psychiatry 2021). Considering that, in 2021, we implemented in our Psychiatric community center a multifamily therapy (MFT). The program is based on systemic approach and psychoeducation, focusing on schizophrenia.ObjectivesDescribe participants of MFT groups focusing on schizophrenia.* Patients’ characteristics : age, gender, duration of psychiatric follow-up, history of hospitalization* Caregivers’ characterics: status, age.MethodsWe carried out a descriptive study of the different profile of MFT groups participants in our community center from 2021 to today.ResultsSince 2021, 4 MFT groups took place including 50 participants: 18 patients suffering from schizophrenia and 32 relatives.Image 1 illustrates the different participants of each group.Each group was different. Some patients came with both their parents, even if divorced, some came only with their mother. Some came with a sibling. Nevertheless, the numbers of fathers and siblings did not always allow us to work in sub-groups.Considering patients: 18 patients benefited from our program. 8 female and 10 male patients (55.6%) were admitted and distributed in each group as described in image 2. The mean age of patients was 31.9 years old [20.1 – 57.5]. Each group was made up of patients with psychiatric follow-up ranging from 1 year to more than 20 years, and having experienced between 1 to more than 5 psychiatric hospitalizations. It appears that Group 4 was noticeably younger than the other groups with a mean age of 22.4 years old [20.4 – 26.7] and a shorter history in psychiatry with less hospitalisations (image 3).Considering relatives: 15 mothers, 9 fathers, 5 siblings, 1 spouse, 1 aunt and 1 uncle benefited from psychoeducation to caregivers. The relatives were from 47 to 81 years old for the parents, and from 17 to 50,7 for the siblings. Unlike parents, siblings generally attended a limited number of sessions.Image:Image 2:Image 3:ConclusionsThis descriptive study reflects the work carried out with 18 patients and their relatives in an MFT group providing psychoeducation to patients suffering from schizophrenia and their caregivers. 50 persons benefited from psychoeducation in 2 years. We learned from these results to improve the constitution of our groups and the benefits of our psychoeducation program. We were careful to include families with siblings as we know they are affected by the mental illness in the family and are often left aside of all care/support proposals. We questioned ourselves on the advantages of homogeneous or heterogeneous groups, considering age, history of follow up. How could it impact affiliation to the group or differentiation movements ? How useful or harmful it is for sharing experiences between the families. A proper study would be necessary to answer these questions.Disclosure of InterestNone Declared

Case Report and Literature review. Neuropsychiatry Manifestation of Frontal Lobe Neoplasm- Meningioma. Prevalence, Presentation and Pathogenesis

IntroductionMeningiomas are the most frequent primary brain tumor. Although most Meningiomas are benign, their location in the central nervous system can predict symptomatology which could result in significant morbidity and mortality. However, due to the slow-growing nature, meningiomas are usually asymptomatic, and diagnosis is often made incidentally on neuroimaging or at an autopsy. The incidence rate is 1.2-fold higher in Black Americans than White Americans. Neuropsychiatry manifestation might be only initial presentation; thus, psychiatrists are often the first to see these patients, and the correct diagnosis may be made only when the tumor has grown to a considerable size and begun to displace the brain.ObjectivesThe aim of this study is to understand the biological basis of psychiatry symptoms in patients with Frontal Lobe meningiomas.MethodsA review of literature and individual patient data analysis was conducted. The literature review was conducted on PubMed, Medline, MeSH, Google Scholar, and mount Sinai’s levy Library using the key words; meningioma, meningioma with psychiatric symptoms, psychosis, depression, neuropsychiatry manifestation of meningiomas.ResultsThe review revealed that 88% of brain tumors and psychiatric symptoms are located in the frontal region. Meningiomas accounts for 13%-26% of intracranial tumors. There is a reported low incidence due to its slow growing nature and are usually asymptomatic. Incidence of meningiomas is predominant in females, and is attributed to hormonal factors, this is associated with estrogen and progestogen cycles. Reports shows that smoking has been linked to increase risk of meningiomas in men. Frontal lobe meningiomas may present with only psychological symptoms that resemble depression, anxiety states, hypomania and schizophrenia. Personality and mental status changes are also noted in Frontal lobe tumors. Left sided lesions are associated with inhibition of motor activity, impairment in motor and initiative aspect of speech, diminished generalization ability and general inertia of mental process.Conclusions Given the absence of frank neurological symptoms, to help localize the lesion, most meningiomas are missed due to diagnostic overshadowing of the primary psychiatric illness. Peritumoral edema indicates the underlying mechanism and location of the lesion predicts symptomatology. Like our patient who is an 81-year-old male with no past psychiatry history, presenting to our comprehensive psychiatry emergency program with psychiatric manifestation as the initial presentation and subsequently with MRI suggestive of Right Frontal extra-axial meningioma. This study shows that primitive frontal lobe tumors are likely to be misdiagnosed as patients with such tumors are often referred first to psychiatrist. High index of suspicious is needed.Disclosure of InterestNone Declared