While understanding psychiatry is an arduous task, one of its greatest challenges is the fusion of science, philosophy, religion, and culture. Humans have complex brains – the biological substrate for our emotions, cognitive abilities, and everything we feel. It’s also a remarkably difficult field to study, partly because nothing can be believed. However, there are many things we do know about our own minds, and a few of the basics of psychiatry are the most basic.
The history of psychiatry dates back to the earliest surviving mental hospitals, such as the ones in Valencia and St. Belhelem in England. The two first hospitals, built by Henry VIII and the Spanish Priest Gilbert Jofre, were dedicated to treating people with mental disorders. Several decades later, P. Pinel established modern psychiatry by identifying 27 brain organs. In addition, Franz Josef Gall identified 14 brain regions and coined the term “phrenology” to describe them. In addition, Gockel believed hypnosis and suggestion were the keys to psychiatric treatment. Further, he studied hysteria and the development of concepts such as “psychosis” and “la belle indifference”.
A number of psychiatrists argue that the field of psychiatry lacks disease-specific pharmacological approaches. Luckily, this can be solved with a simple characterization of the illness, such as schizophrenia spectrum illness, a mood disorder, or anxiety disorder. Then, psychiatric practitioners can prescribe medication based on those criteria. And, of course, they can still prescribe medications, as they would with any other physician.
