The treatment of mental disorders has come a long way since earlier times. History teaches us that the methods of treatment of the mentally ill changes as the theories about human nature and the causes of this disorder changes. Technology is always advancing, even within this foggy and sometimes disturbing scientific branch of the human mind.

The treatments for the mentally ill are mentioned in the bible. In Leviticus (20:28) the Old Testament says that "A man also or woman that hath a familiar spirit, or that is a wizard, shall surely be put to death; they shall stone them with their stones; their blood shall be upon them." People in those days thought that the mentally ill were possessed by demons or evil spirits. The treatment to get rid of those unwanted and destructive forces was to first use prayer, incantation (spells), magic, and the using of herb concoctions. But if these treatments didn't help the suffering person, then more severe measures were taken.

Since the people of that day thought that the body of the unfortunate mentally ill person needed to be made into an unpleasant dwelling place for the demon, they would flog, starve, burn, and even stone to death the afflicted person in the name of "treatment". During this early biblical period, the holy men handled the treatment of the mentally ill, since it was commonly considered that the person was possessed by an evil spirit or demon.

Then the Greek physician Hippocrates (circa 460-377 BC) came along and didn't agree with the idea of demons invading the human body. He declared that mental disorders were the result of a disturbance or inbalance of the fluids in the body. The Greeks and Roman physicians soon fought for a more humane treatment of the mentally ill, and disregarded the idea of demonology.

But then the Middle Ages came along, and soon the people experienced a growing revival of primitive superstitions and demonology. The mentality of the people of this time was that the mentally ill were in cahoots with the Devil, and were able to cause floods, pestilence and harm to others through their supernatural powers that were enabled to them by Satan. Thus the people living in the medieval times believed that treating an insane person cruelly would be punishing the devil, and therefore would be justified.

Therefore beating, starving, branding with hot irons, "trephining" (in which holes were burred into the skull to let the demons escape) were all used as "treatments". This cruelty and torture culminated in the fifteenth through the seventeenth centuries in witchcraft trials that sentenced thousands of people to death.

This is the early history of the treatment and knowledge that we have of the mentally ill. Nowadays technology has given us a much better window into this foggy area of the human mind. With advanced techniques and new insight into this disease, there is hope for these unfortunate people. Hopefully one day mental illness will be eliminated completely in our society.