janemariesayed
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As I am a sufferer of depression and interested in history, I thought I would have a look and see how depression and mental illness was treated and viewed in past times.
Apparently, the earliest record of depression was recorded as melancholia in a Mesopotamian text in the 2nd Millenium BC. This timeline is debatable with the Ancient Egyptians, Babylonians and Chinese who thought that a person who was depressed had to be possessed by demons. The treatment given was horrendous involving exorsism. They would starve patients and beat them thinking that it would drive the demons out of them.
Sufferers were also treated by Priests rather than Doctors as they separated physical illness from mental illness. People with mental illness, anxiety, depression or any kind of mental disorder had to go and stay in the religious house to get treatment.
Romans and Greeks actually thought that depression was psychological and biological. Patients were encouraged to do gymnastics, and even today we know that exercise raises vibes and gives us a feel good factor. Sufferers were even given donkeys milk with poppy to help relieve the symptoms.
I thought this was a really interesting subject and am going to do a bit more research on it.
Apparently, the earliest record of depression was recorded as melancholia in a Mesopotamian text in the 2nd Millenium BC. This timeline is debatable with the Ancient Egyptians, Babylonians and Chinese who thought that a person who was depressed had to be possessed by demons. The treatment given was horrendous involving exorsism. They would starve patients and beat them thinking that it would drive the demons out of them.
Sufferers were also treated by Priests rather than Doctors as they separated physical illness from mental illness. People with mental illness, anxiety, depression or any kind of mental disorder had to go and stay in the religious house to get treatment.
Romans and Greeks actually thought that depression was psychological and biological. Patients were encouraged to do gymnastics, and even today we know that exercise raises vibes and gives us a feel good factor. Sufferers were even given donkeys milk with poppy to help relieve the symptoms.
I thought this was a really interesting subject and am going to do a bit more research on it.