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PubMedDate not supplied

The great insanity.

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England↗
PubMed1996

[We're moving closer and closer to the insane asylum...": Modern life and nervous system diseases by Johann CHristian Reil (1759-1813)].

Johann Christian Reil is usually portrayed as a pioneer in the realm of neuroanatomy and psychiatry, and as a pragmatic physician engaged in contemporary problems of social medicine and hygiene. In this article, the connection between these two fields of interest is focused: Reil's ideas on the relation between the "modern" way of life and the occurrence of diseases of the nervous system. The first part of the paper summarizes Reil's statements on the issue, as laid out e.g. in his "Ueber die Erkenntnis und Cur der Fieber" (1802), and in the "Rhapsodieen über die Anwendung der psychischen Curmethode auf Geisteszerrüttungen" (1803). The second part gives an outline of Reil's neurophysiological model of the interaction between the organ of the soul ("Seelenorgan") and the social environment. In the third part, Reil's conceptions of culture, civilisation, and history are investigated. For Reil, madness is not an alienation from reason, but from a postulated healthy state of nature which is located in the past. Modern life causes and steadily increases a contradiction between the needs of the body and those of the soul, resulting in a concomitant tension and irritability of the nerves. Modern culture is thus criticized for its potentially harmful effects on mental health. The balance between physical and mental activities, and the constitution of a decentralized state would be means to prevent the manifestation of the ensuing diseases.

Germany↗
PubMed1990

[The spider on the ceiling].

This article is on the portrayal of insanity in Québec literature and, in particular, on the relationships between Québec literature and insanity. A look at Québec history reveals how insanity follows the nature of society as it evolves from a religious base to a political one. Research shows that, from 1837 to 1920, insanity in literature was caused by an emotional shock, deception in love or thwarted ambitions. Between the first and second world wars, insanity was brought on by debauchery, money and women. So, for over a century, we see insanity as having punitive value. It's only in the 1950s that literature portrays insanity as a consciousness raiser: From having negative connotations, it suddenly has positive ones. Finally, from 1960 to today, insanity stems from failure, whether it be love-related, social or political. In most novels, the insane individual ends up dying. It's as if novelists had wanted to reinforce the notions of punishment, failure and despair linked to insanity. Why?

Female↗
PubMed1988

A psychometric study of stereotypes: assessment of malingering in a criminal forensic group.

This research investigates the validity of the stereotype of insanity defendants as malingerers by analyzing the proportions of insanity defendants who exaggerate psychopathology at the pre- and postacquittal stages of the legal process and by assessing the severity of psychopathology among preacquittal defendants. We administered the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) to 49 insanity defendants evaluated for fitness to stand trial and/or sanity at the time of the alleged crime and to 52 subjects previously found not guilty by reason of insanity. Results indicated: (a) Contrary to the stereotype, a minority (14% to 41%) of insanity defendants clearly malingered, whereas 22% to 39% showed evidence of minimizing psychopathology. (b) Eighty-one percent of these subjects had MMPI profiles suggestive of psychosis, but relatively few showed evidence of primarily antisocial behavior. Thus, the malingering stereotype may be application to only a minority of insanity defendants and is specifically inapplicable to a substantial proportion who minimized psychopathology or showed evidence of psychosis consistent with the claim of insanity.

Adult↗
PubMed1979

[Perspective on the history of psychiatry in Québec : the case of the asylum in Québec City.].

The history of insanity in whatever setting often introduces a dual interest : from a non-medical perspective, it reveals the repressive nature of society and the evolution of groups in power within this society : in that sense, one discovers that the objectives of the organization taking charge of insanity translates differently according its social definition of insanity at a moment in time and according to the interests that dominate at this same time. On the other hand, from a medical perspective, such history tends to illustrate original social deviancy and social norms and professional concepts of insanity and its treatment tend nonetheless to be inspired by the existing social order indirectly justified. It's in this perspective that we have elaborated the history of the Centre Hospitalier Robert-Giffard, the first psychiatric hospital in Lower Canada. The history covers 5 specific periods : the political and religious period, the period of professional colonialism during the union with Lower Canada, the asylum period, the hospital period or franco-religious when a neurological concept of insanity prevailed, the psychiatric period where insanity becomes a mental illness that is treatable both biologically and psychologically and finally the period where insanity tends to fall back to social deviancy that must be taken in charge by social science experts. The authors end their article with an overview of a more community-oriented period.

English Abstract↗
PubMedDate not supplied

The cure of one of the most frequent types of dementia: a historical parallel.

The year 2005 marks the centenary of the discovery of Treponema pallidum by Schaudinn and Hoffmann, an important milestone in a long process that culminated in the cure of general paralysis of the insane, probably the most frequent type of dementia up to the first half of the 20th century. Reflections on the process that achieved the virtual eradication of general paralysis of the insane may be important in developing approaches to manage Alzheimer disease, today's most prevalent type of dementia. Both for general paralysis of the insane and Alzheimer disease, it took time for them to be recognized as frequent causes of dementia. The hypothesis of the syphilitic origin of general paralysis of the insane instigated heated debates during the 19th century, even surpassing those between proponents of the amyloid cascade versus the tau protein hypotheses for Alzheimer disease. The results of the management of general paralysis of the insane warrant special reflection. Penicillin therapy arrests the disease, but many patients did not regain their previous cognitive performance. The treatment, to be completely efficient, must be accomplished in the phase of early syphilis or in the latent period, thereby preventing the evolution to general paralysis of the insane. The same probably will be true for Alzheimer disease-to be completely successful, treatment should be given before the disease has begun to damage the brain.

Alzheimer Disease↗
PubMed2000

[Herman W. Major--"father" of Norwegian psychiatry].

Herman Wedel Major (1814-54) is clearly the founding father of Norwegian psychiatry. In 1844, he submitted a proposal for an insane asylum in Norway, emphasising that insanity was a curable disease, not possession by spirits. Included with the proposal were drawings by his brother-in-law, the well-known architect Heinrich Ernst Schirmer (1815-87). The proposal was soon supported by a statement from Peter Willers Jessen (1793-1875), professor and head of Europe's first new psychiatric hospital. Gaustad Hospital was opened in 1855. In 1846, Major submitted a report on the plight of the insane in Norway, and he was the driving force in the drafting of modern legislation on insanity in Norway, the "act relating to treatment and care for the insane", passed in 1848. This was the fourth modern insanity act in Europe, following those in France (1838), Switzerland (1838) and England (1842).--A great lifetime achievement, brought to an end in 1854 when Major, then 40, and his family died in a shipwreck.

Commitment of Persons with Psychiatric Disorders↗