Please read chapter 12. After reading the chapter, please respond to the following questions:
What were three (3) things from the chapter that you found
interesting? Why were they interesting to you? What one (1) thing did
you find the least interesting? Why? Which of the applied psychologists
did you find the most interesting? What did you read in the chapter that
you think will be most useful to in understanding the history of
psychology?
Think of a topic from an earlier chapter. How does the
current chapter relate to the topic from the earlier chapter we have
already read?
What PERSON from the chapter would you like to learn more about? Why?
One thing I found interesting in this chapter was the interesting techniques doctors and other professionals had for treating mental illness, such as bloodletting. At the time bloodletting as a cure for many ailments was popular since the common etiology for sickness was the body being out of balance. One common theory for the time was having too much blood and the only way get well again was to lose some. This practice today seems silly, but was well respected and common practice a couple hundred years ago; what could we be doing now that in a couple hundred years people could be thinking what were they thinking.
Another interesting thing about this chapter was the story of Victor, in southern France. This boy was consider a “wild child,” a child going up in seclusion, without the effects of society or human interaction. When Victor was found he had no language. After being discovered Jean Itard and Edouard Seguin work with the boy to try and teach him Even though they felt their efforts failed Victor was able to respond to simple commands implying he did have the ability to comprehend.
A final part of the chapter I found interesting was Mesmer’s work with magnetism. I find it particularly interesting that he had convinced himself that he had magnetic powers within himself. What is also interesting about Mesmer is that he had a stable clientele at the time, even though many thought of him as a fake.
One thing I didn’t find interesting was all the information about how mesmerism went to hypnosis and surrounding controversies. This part was dry to me bogged down with facts and opinions that I couldn’t related to. There also seemed to be a lot of background information that I didn’t care about.
Out of this chapter the applied psychologist I found most interesting was Jean Itard with his work with Victor. By trying to social and teach Victor language he kept meticulous journals which were later turned into a movie around the same time as another “wild child” was found in California; which is another eerie twist of fate. This is also a topic which I am interesting in learning more about.
Understanding how different sciences evolved is important to the history of psychology. The anatomy and physiology of the human body has changed along with the idea of hypnosis. Understanding these changes and how they come about is a key to understanding where psychology is today.
A topic from this chapter which relates to previous chapters is the evolution of sciences, particularly psychology. This has been a scene repeated throughout the textbook. Understanding history can bring understanding to the present, but unless one studies history carefully, or perhaps because of that reason, then we are doomed to repeat our past.
The first thing I loved reading in this chapter was the description of the early treatments for mental illness. Before the idea of "moral treatment" emerged, the treatments for mentally ill patients were medieval at best, torture at worst. I have learned a lot about such early treatments in other classes as well, including human sexuality and child and adolescent psychopathology, and it's continued to be a fascinating topic for me. The concept of blood letting is something that would be laughed at today, but it used to be a very common thing for the treatment of mental illness.
Another thing I enjoyed was the section on mesmerism and hypnosis. Mesmerism in particular was very fun to read about - it's not something I'd ever really heard of before, so it was interesting to find out about it. This is another concept that I think would be laughed about today; the swooning and moaning involved in Mesmer's treatments sounds like some sort of freaky cult or something! While hypnotism is a pretty controversial topic today, I still think it sounds a lot more convincing than mesmerism.
Finally, I love Freud! I love him, I love him, I love him! Therefore, it was so fun to read more about him, though I already knew a lot about him beforehand. I understand that Freud's psychoanalytic theory is one that has come up against much backlashing in the more recent years, and I can totally understand why. He places much of his emphasis on sex (when in fact it may be unnecessary), and his thoughts on dream interpretation and transference and the like are pretty dubious at best. However, no one can deny the profound impact Freud has had on today's studies in psychology. I also think SOME of Freud's thoughts on sexuality are totally valid today, including the seduction hypothesis. It makes sense that when children have been sexually abused for a long period of time, that sexuality matures and may manifest itself in more overtly sexual symptoms.
The only thing I did not find interesting about this chapter is the portion on clinical psychology, specifically about Lightner Witmer. I understand that it's important to know who opened psychology's first clinic and when it happened, but that sort of stuff is just pretty dull to me. Other than that, I was pretty enthralled with this whole chapter.
I think it's obvious that I found Freud to be the most interesting psychologist discussed in this chapter, as well as the most influential. I don't think his extensive work and research can be compared with any other psychologist out there. I think basically the entire chapter is important to know when studying the history of psychology. In order to understand how and why treatments for mental illness are the way they are today, we must first know the history of the treatment of mental illness.
The current chapter relates back to basically all the previous chapters, I think. Many of the previous chapters discussed theories that would later be used to treat mental illness, including behaviorism and the physiological treatments. This is really more of a topic than a person, but I'd like to learn more about Anna O. and her case with Freud. It sounded really fascinating, and there was a lot of information already given here, but I'd like to research it a bit more.
The first piece of information I found interesting in the chapter was the sections on reforming asylums. I had known from education classes that the mental institutions were incredibly harsh in the treatment of individuals who occupied those institutions, but I always find it unsettling reading about the abuse and neglect. Reading about Dix's account of what she saw at public institutions fueled my resentment for those responsible for such human rights abuses. Reading about the different types of devices and techniques used to calm patients down I found to be interesting. I'm aware of the old fashioned medical remedy of bloodlettin, but I thought it was interesting to find out who came up with it and called for it's general use.
The second piece of information I found interesting was the discussion on mesmerism and hypnotism. I thought it was crazy to find out (not necessarily from a medical standpoint) that they actually used it in surgeries as a form of anesthetic. It makes sense that they would try it considering they didn't have actual drug (medicinal) anesthetic, but it just seemed like a wild idea. In an episode of the TV show 'Scrubs' one of ther characters attempts to perform surgery while the patient is under hypnosis because they didn't want the actual drug anesthetic used on them. In the show they made it seem like a completely shocking and terrible idea so after reading that they actually used to use it in surgery I was amazed.
Because I'm interested in people to be the first to do something, the third piece of information I found interesting was reading about Witmer's creation of the first psychological clinic. I thought it was neat how part of his laboratory was turned into a clinical psychology for children to come to get help. I really liked how he attempted to push for more experts in the field to research and create training programs to help people with the types of problems people came into his lab with, and the fact that he started a whole journal in an effort to promote the study of clinical psychology.
I didn't find the large section on Freud to be very interesting because much of his work is taught in high school introductory psychological classes so I was familiar with a lot of it. Like several of his original followers that he split with like Jung and Adler I disagree, and frankly, get very annoyed by Freud's over emphasis on the sexual motivation as an underlying factor for many of his theories. Some of his work from my perspective, where I have only taken a couple psychology courses, just seems kind of ridiculous, but I don't want to criticize him too much because he did make some lasting contributions to psychology.
I found Witmer to be the most interesting because of his creation of clinical psychology. I've always been interested in practical and applied uses of psychology so I was really interested reading how he tried to help children with his knowledge of psychology.
I think learning some more about Freud will be the most useful in understanding the history of psychology because although he is not regarded nearly as highly anymore in the field, his work is still taught very widely and he did make some lasting contributions to psychology. Reading about Freud also helps to understand why his importance in psychology has diminshed over the years and his work isn't as highly regarded.
This chapter relates to intelligent testing in Chapter 8 because this chapter deals with mental illness and incapabilities, and intelligent testing can be used to define someone as having a mental illness if their scores are too low. Witmer used some intelligent testing in his lab although he thought it to be not very helpful in regard to his own queries on helping the children, and also placed a larger emphasis on social factors than biological ones.
I'd like to learn more about Witmer because I thought his clinical psychology within his lab was real interesting, and I'd be curious to know what kind of progress he made throughout his career in helping the children.
The first thing I found interesting was the way doctors handled the mentally ill, before the asylums were reformed. Benjamin Rush was the first person that decided to take a scientific approach to mental illness. His treatments seem so inhumane now, but than they really thought they were helping the sick. One of the techniques was bloodletting. This disturbed me. Rush believed that menal illness stemmed from hypertension in the brains blood vessels, so to reduce this tension he opened the veins and removed blood until they were in a calm state. Really they would have to be calm because by loosing blood it is hard to have energy to thrash around. I found this interesting because I see these treatements and tools as awful and inhumane, but I do see the first step to trying to treat the mentally ill instead of just sticking them in the prisons.
The next thing I found interesting was Freud. I love Freud as well. I find him to be fascinating and had a lot of contributions to psychology that many psychologists after him evolved from. Many of his theories are looked down upon especially oedipus complex, but some of them seem to have potential to be true. One of Freuds concepts included his analysis of personality into three parts, the id, ego and superego. He used these to explain anxiety and how the ego defends its self against them. Freud used different names for each type of anxiety the ego must defend itself from. The objective anxiety (realistic), neurotic anxiety (fear), and moral anxiety (fear of shame from not following morals). There were also defenses that the ego used when it felt attacked. There were many, for example projection is convincing themseleves that other people are the hostile ones, when in reality they are the hostile ones. Freud is jsut a veryinteresting psychologist and how he developed his theories and his meaning behind them.
The third thing I found interesting was Witmers work with children in clinical psychology. Witmer worked with children that had physiological, cognitive and behavioral problems. He started to increase his research and started his own clinic. His clinic became pretty large and had a routine that each child entering the program would follow. They first went through a medical examiniation by a physician, than a social worker put together a history of the child's background, and than Witmer (usually) would conduct mental testing on memory, attention and motor functioning to see what the problem could be. This interested me because Witmer had integrated many different careers into one clinic. I also found this interesting because I enjoy working with children, and it was nice to see that the first clinic was with children.
I found this chapter to be very interesting and had a hard time finding one thing that didn't keep my attention entirely. The one thing that was not as interesting as the other things in this chapter was mesmerism and animal magnetism. It was very interesting how Mesmer used the technique to calm people down and perform certain surgical needs it just didn't seem as captivating as other information to me.
The psychologist I found most interesting was Freud and always will be. I enjoy reading his interesting theories and how he applied them. However they may be wrong and not very applicable, Freud took a huge leap in psychology and created a strong view point on understanding the unconsious.
I feel that all of this is useful to understanding the history of psychology. It is good to understand the theories that helped the mentally ill and what type of counseling was used back then.
I think this chapter realtes to all of the other chapter by evolving off of earlier psychologists theories and making psychology a more diverse science. But I did find that William James had a stand in the Mental Hygene movement and did protest the need for better health care for the mentally ill.
I would like to learn more about Witmer and his clinical lab and how he helped many children.
I liked to read about Pinn's Moral Treatment theory. The book said that he improved upon nutrition,hygiene, and overall living conditions. This was enlightening to read about after all self testing and poor conditions some of the previous test subjects had to endure in the name of science.
Another thing I enjoyed was the section on mesmerism and hypnosis. While hypnotism is a pretty controversial topic in today's society and is hard to be taken seriously as a science similar to when to book talked about the psudeoscience of studying the bumps and knots of the brain. I felt like this was something that related back to the previous chapter because they were both "practices" that seemed useful at the time but as methods progressed the practice was Dorothea Dix's work with the asylum and improved conditions for the mentally ill was also interesting to read about in of itself, but also related a lot with the Moral Treatment philosophy. Not to mention the overall theme and tone of the chapter. Dorothea Dix seemed to be more of an interesting read then some of the other scientists and I feel I have already looked into Freud too many times.
The first thing that I found interesting was the treatment of mentally ill individuals in earlier times. I have always found this topic really interesting. I have learned a lot about this topic in courses, such as research methods. Methods that were common in the past are seen as unethical in the present. An example of this that was discussed in this chapter is bloodletting. I found it really interesting Benjamin Rush created two devices for calming the blood.
Another thing I found interesting was Dorthea Dix’s work on improving care for mentally ill. I found it interesting that she toured various jails and hospitals housing mentally ill individuals and took note of the way these people were treated. She gave her information to the Massachusetts legislature. Her work led to many reforms for public asylums. I found it interesting because she went to so much work to stand up for what she believed was right. During that time, many people just turned the other cheek.
The third thing that I found interesting in chapter 12 was Franz Mesmer’s animal magnetism. I had heard a little about this theory in my research methods class, but I found it interesting to learn more about it. I found it really interesting that this theory was later called hypnosis.
One thing that I found less interesting was Freud’s early life and education. Over the course of my college career I have learned a lot about Freud. Because I have learned so much about him, I was not very interested in reading more.
I found Dorothea Dix to be the most interesting applied psychologist. I found her work, and her approach very interesting.
I think that this chapter is important in understanding the topic of understanding the history of psychology. By understanding how mental illness treatments were implemented in the past, we can learn a lot about how mental illness is treated today. The people who fought for humane treatment for the mentally ill helped to develop ethic codes that all psychologists must follow in current times.
I feel that this chapter relates to a variety of previous chapters in the evolving of humane patient treatment. The field of psychology we know today is based on humane treatment of patients, and an ethical code that all psychologists must follow. Without the work of past psychologists, we may still be "bleeding" people to fight bad spirits instead of analyzing their condition and finding the most empirically valid treatment.
I would like to learn more about Lightner Witmer. The only information that I have previously known about him was that he did create a psychology clinic, but I would like to learn more about him.
One of the first topics of the chapter that I found interesting was how the mentally ill were treated not only before psychology but also early on in psychology. These mentally ill people in the early times were often tortured or put to death because they were thought to have demons inside them or that they were witches. I found it interesting how even up until the late 1700’s patients were still chained in order to restrain them. In post-revolutionary America patients were often treated through bloodletting, a process where blood is drained from the body to remove disease, and a “tranquilizer chair that immobilized the patient in order to reduce heart rate.
Another interesting topic to me was how hypnosis got its start in psychology. This process began with Franz Mesmer’s interest in how magnetic forces worked and how he might be able to use them to help people. Originally he found that giving people high doses of iron and then running magnets over them would help to cure them. People would go into a trace like state when he did this little did he know he found out the power of suggestion on human behavior. He was then even able to apply this suggestion without the use of the magnets. He then moved on to treating large groups of people at one time. His treatments were effective for individuals with problems like headaches, fainting spells, and digestive problems.
Another topic from the chapter that I found interesting was how Sigmund Freud developed his theory and concept of psychoanalyzing sex. He found that many of his patients had troubled pasts associated with abuse. Many of these patients were unstable and Freud thought that these sexual abuses and interactions of their pasts were to blame for their behavior. Due to these patients he began to theorize that a person who expresses certain hysterical behaviors has had some kind of sexual tension or problem in their past. These problems would then be realized as the child would come of age and reach puberty expressed by hysterical behavior brought on by the person’s new understanding.
A section of the chapter that I found uninteresting was the section on Freud’s followers. This section just seemed to go on just a bit too long to describe two viewpoints on the theories of Freud. The author seemed to also go into greater detail than really necessary regarding the events and opinions of those either opposed or for Freud’s theory.
This chapter does a great job of building on previous chapter especially the behaviorism of chapter 11. With an in depth description of how Freud’s theories came about as well as the founding of hypnosis the chapter relates well with how psychologists progressed in understanding how human behavior works. One of the topics the chapter discussed that will help me to learn more about the history of psychology is definitely the in depth description of Freud. Understanding his theories is very important to any child education or early childhood psychology and learning how his theories originate greatly help to further understand them. I would like to learn more about Freud and some of his theories. Even though the book describes how he came up with some of his theories I would like to learn more about how someone could come up with ideas so uncommon for the time he lived in.
Looking back at chapter 12 the first thing that I found interesting was the treatment of the mentally ill. I found it very haunting that people would torture and perform punishments of that nature towards those who had mental illnesses. It just goes to show how clueless people were during that era when it came to diagnosing individuals. To think that somebody was evil or possessed by the devil is an opinion that comes out of religion. It’s hard to imagine their though process behind it all. It was encouraging to read that improvements were made for people with mental illnesses and their treatment. I thought the “moral treatment” was a positive effort for the treatment of people with mental illnesses.
The second thing that I found interesting was bloodletting. I thought it was wild how Benjamin Rush thought removing large amounts of blood would bring a person “back” if you will. I thought it was interesting to read how he thought one of his therapies worked until that patient relapsed and hung himself not long after his release. That had to of been quite frustrating for Benjamin Rush.
A third thing that I found interesting in the chapter was Benjamin Rush’s development of the tranquilizer chair and gyrator. I think that these two inventions are very extremely wild. I know I would rather sit in the tranquilizer chair. The gyrator sounds like it would just make somebody extremely sick. I don’t know how that would help somebody with a mental illness. Still a very interesting idea and design by Benjamin Rush.
The least interesting thing that I read about was probably the Breuer and the Catharsis Method. I still found it to be quite interesting. The whole chapter was a good read. I think this however was a little slower to me and I wasn’t as attached with what it had to say.
The applied psychologist that I want to learn more about is definitely Benjamin Rush. He was the most interesting psychologist to me because of his crazy ideas and designs of things that he thought would help the mentally ill.
I think the section of the chapter that dealt with psychoanalysis was the most useful to me in understanding the history of psychology. It was very interesting as well. I though the beginning part of the chapter was the most interesting though in my opinion. I just like reading about weird theories and ideas that people come up with. I think that this chapter relates to the topic of functionalism in chapter five. This chapter has a lot to do with human behavior and mental processes.
Dorthea Dix was an extraordinary person, not only did she single handedly improve the conditions in the mental hospitals, but she did it in a time when women were thought to be “not worth listening to” (406). In 1841 she was traveling and was alarmed on the “level of abuse and neglect, with the mentally ill being treated no better than animals. They were often chained to the walls of an unheated closet-sized rooms filled with their excrement, poorly fed and clothed, often beaten into submission and generally abandoned” (404). The ignorant thought was that the mentally ill were less than human. Dorthea saw passed their imperfections and wanted to change this she “logged some 60,000 miles of travel, observing in the process more than nine thousand idiots, epileptics, and insane... destitute of appropriate care and protection” (406). She went to Massachusetts legislature which “led to a series of reforms, including an increase of funds to improve the state’s public asylum in Worcester” (406). “Her efforts on behalf of the mentally ill poor dramatically improved the living conditions, of those powerless to help themselves” (406). She had such an important role in the future of these people leading to the future of their treatment and cure under the Mental Hygiene movement.
A person from the chapter that I found really interesting was Clifford Beers. He was actually a patient in a mental institution after a suicide attempt, flowed by a year of depression. He wrote A mind That Found Itself which “had special impact because it was written by someone who had lived through the ordeal” (406). I find the word ordeal an interesting because ordeal doesn’t make it sound like a very pleasant thing to go through. These people were treated like monsters, but all they really needed was help. In his book “he documented the constant verbal and occasional physical abuse suffered at the hands of the staff, and called for improved conditions and professional training for attendants” (406). There are now laws against this today because of this man, after documented accounts of the abuse laws had to be passed. After his book he founded the National Committee for Mental Hygiene to further the prevention of this maltreatment. “He spent the remaining years informing the public of his beliefs about mental illness, promoting programs to enhance mental health and lobbying for the creation of mental hygiene clinics. (406-407).
I also enjoyed reading the diagnosing mental illness close-up. In it, it discussed the DSM-IV which is the Diagnostic and Statistical manual of Mental Disorders, now the fourth edition, “including more than four hundred psychiatric diagnostic categories, arranged in seventeen broad categories, and filling close to nine hundred pages” (407). Emil Kraepelin a German physician devoted his studies to the diagnosis of mental illnesses. He had many patients which enabled him to diagnose and sort them respectively. To keep track of all his patients he kept a large collection of notecards, “one per patient, on which he recorded the details of each case, from the information collected from the initial intake to the final outcomes” (407). He created a short bio about each person and their progression overtime. He identified mania and depression which he defined as “circular states” which is known today as bipolar disorder. He also identified dementia praecox with symptoms including “disturbances in apprehension, in orientation, of attention, of memory, of the train of thought, of judgment, of the emotional field, in the foliation field, and hallucination” (407-408) and is known as schizophrenia. He was one of the first people to look in depth of the mental illnesses affecting the people being mistreated in the mental hospitals. I think looking more into his life, way he sorted and diagnosed patients would be very interesting. The study of mental illness causes and treatment is very important in the study of psychology. We can learn how to treatment once we learn what causes them; making the lives of the people it affects more bearable for them and their loved ones.
Although I found the Anna O. case I was not fully interested in it. I thought it was going to a lot more interesting, it didn’t give much information about the experiment. More detail I think would have made it more enticing to read. Overall though I found the chapter very interesting, the topic of mental illness is very intriguing to me.
The section on clinical psychology closely related the chapter that discussed the mental testing. Especially during war times, tests were given to but people in positions and determine if they were fit for war. Although the tests still weren’t as accurate as they could be they had improved from the first tests given to immigrants and people going into World War I.
The first thing I found interesting after reading chapter 12 was how people treated the mentally ill. I found it hard to read with all of the old treatments of the mentally ill with being stuck in an electric chair all strapped in with restraints of not being able to move their arms or bodies to be treated for their "feeblemindedness".
The second thing I found to be interesting in this chapter was Dorothea Dix going to mental institutions and asylums across the country with the mental health reform in the 18th century. I found the conditions of the asylums to be very harsh, and I couldn't believe that is what young people were stuck in for being treated for their mental health issues. Dorothea Dix was such an influential person going across country to improve the conditions of asylums.
The third thing I found to be interesting was Lightner Witmer's creation of the first psychology clinic. I found this to be interesting because clinical psychology has only been known for about fifty years, so it was interesting to learn about the first clinic for psychology and Witmer as a person.
I found the section on Freud to be the least interesting because from previous psychology classes I've learned all about his life, and the psychoanalysis. I just thought it was very boring, and information I already knew.
I find Dorothea Dix to be the most interesting psychologist because I didn't know much about her until reading this chapter.
Knowing the treatment of the mentally ill patients in the 18th century relates to previous chapters because there were cases that patients were put into an asylum without knowing why they were mentally ill.
Learning about Freud and his psychoanalysis of the unconscious mind will be the most important learning about the history of psychology because all of Freud's foundings we still use today in psychology.
I want to learn more about Dorothea Dix and all of what she did with the mental institutions. By doing more research I hope to find why she went to all of these mental institutions to see the conditions of them.
While reading chapter 12, I was interested and at time applaud, this is due to the fact that I currently work with the mentally disabled and know some are very low functioning and some are very high.
However one thing that I found interesting was the techniques doctors and some professionals had for treating mental illness. One of the techniques that I found interesting was bloodletting. Bloodletting was where they removed the disease or excess blood, and was continued as a cure for mental illness. Some of the other cures were tranquilizing people. This was a chair with straps which were used to restrain the arms and legs. The goal was that if there was no movement it would reduce the pulse rate. Both of these I found to be by far ridiculous. These practices today would never be thought of due to the new technology.
With treating mentally ill people I found the case of Victor to be by far very interesting. He was known as the wild child over two years he was treated over and over again. Itard tried to socialize him and teach him to use language. Throughout the two years the boy became attached to Itard but was able to complete simple chores, but was never able to care for himself. Victor did learn some language and was able to imitate words and phrases; however he was never able to use language properly. This young child gave Itard some insight into challenges that an unfortunate boy will face. I thought that it was interesting to know that even though Itard did not continue to work with Victor, however his assistant did. Neither had much success, the outcome of Victor allowed his assistant Seguin to want to be devoted and commit his life to care and training the mentally disabled and is now seen as a pioneer in this area.
The last part that I was interested in was Freud He is interesting but not my favorite. I was able to understand that Freud's psychoanalytic theory and how many people are disgusted with his work and conce3rned about the degree of emphasis that he placed on sexual motivations. He does place much of his emphasis on sex and his thoughts on dream interpretation. I true feel that Freud thoughts and perspectives on seduction hypothesis make lots of sense more so when it talks about Hysteria. It makes sense because when children have been sexually abused for a long period of time that many symptoms are to occur later on in life. Many forget or force one to forget about the experience and later in years the event will resurface. My degree is in social work and I want to work specifically with children who have been sexually abused. I feel that this idea helps and suggests many things for future reference. When I was reading about this, I thought about the Penn State case!!
There truly was no anything that I did not like. I enjoy reading about the mental illness due to the fact that I work with them. I found disorders very interesting and sexual abuse. Due to I want to work in the field of sexual abuse for my job.
I found the case of Victor to me most interesting and how one person can be so moved and touched by the disabled that they continue to devote their life to those who are disabled.
I would love to learn more about Freud and his thought about children who are sexually abused!!!!!!
I have to admit that this chapter was pretty interesting. I didn’t really think I found anything uninteresting about it. I always thought it was insane how they treated people with mental health or psychological problems back in the day.
With that my first interesting thing is how they did treat people. At first they thought that it was a demonic thing or that it was witchcraft. People that had this titled didn’t get the best help out there, instead they got tortured, or worst killed. People would be chained or burned to the stake. Which, I guess in a way death would free them on the disease… I believe Pinel was the first person to come up with a different idea about how to treat all these mental disorders. He came up with the “moral treatment” idea. After him attention turned to Tuke and then may others along the way. The one I thought was kind of funny in a way was Rush’s “bloodletting”. The method was that if you drained the person of some blood the symptoms would go away. For a little while they did. I’m not a doctor, but I’m pretty sure that when you drain any amount of blood out a person, they aren’t going to feel the best and they are going to be a bit tired. But hey, it work for a day or two, that’s all the counts right? I don’t know, some of the methods used back then just makes me laugh, not the death of course. Did they ever think that it might make things worse?
The next interesting person was Dorothea Dix. I guess it wasn’t really interesting but more of a “finally a person taking a stand” type of thing. She’s the one that went around to the asylums and seen how poorly these people were treated. These places were full of abuse and neglect, just plain poor conditions. People weren’t getting better; they were getting worse if nothing else. These people were chained to walls, weren’t being feed right and didn’t have the best of clothing. I don’t see the good side in this. She had what was called the Dix crusade. With the help of this there was a little more money put into the asylums and it help build more and better hospitals. However, these places soon became overcrowded. Her effects did help out a lot, but back then no one really cared what women had to say, so that make things a little hard.
Beers and Freud I both found interesting for a common reason, they both went through depression. Beers was actually a former patient. He tried to commit suicide then ended up depressed for about a year. This landed him in the mental hospital for three years. So he had a firsthand experience in the hospitals. During his stay he wrote notes about what his experience was like and then published a book called “A Mind That Found Itself” in 1908. This also showed the world that people can heal from mental illnesses and it was possible for people to become “normal” again. Freud is just interesting all around. I don’t think the book actually said that he was depressed but it did said that after losing a daughter, grandson, and niece he began heavily smoking and was diagnosed with mouth cancer. Freud did a lot of things with these issues of mental health. He had a lot of theories and it’s just all interesting! I’m not going to lie, I did chuckle when I came across the importance of sex ONLY because I was not expecting to see that in this book, but research is research.
So I know that I’m suppose to include three interesting things and one uninteresting thing, but I didn’t find anything uninteresting, and I have one more interesting thing I wanted to add. Mesmer and his magnetism. I mentioned in the last blog that I think that the whole hypnosis thing is awesome and this chapter explained how it went from Mesmer’s finding of magnetism to the finding of hypnosis. This was also a bit funny and weird. I liked how the book states that he got kicked out of Vienna because it was a mostly hands-on practice and he had a lot of women as patients. I can see the concern there.
I found a few of the applied psychologist to be interesting, but if I have to pick one I pick Freud. He just has so much to offer in this chapter and it really shows his importance in psychology.
I think this whole chapter is important in history. It really shows how far medicine and theories about mental health has gone. If none of these people came up with the ideas and methods that they did, we would still be chaining people to the walls. And we know, because of history, that this DOES NOT WORK! The only problem that still accords in this day and age is the overcrowding. I took Crime and Punishment last semester when I was still a Criminology major and they would place people with mental health problems in prisons. I’m really hoping that some day we will find either a better plan to take care of these people are a cure.
This chapter has one topic that I found that was in the last chapter, hypnosis. This chapter was more about the up bring of the practice. It seems to be something that works; I don’t think I would try it. I would rather be safe than sorry and have the anesthesia. I trust it more.
The person that I’m going to do for research is Beers, and no, it’s not because of his name. I found him interesting for the reason that he was in a mental hospital and had previous problems with depression. I really would like to read that book. So maybe I’ll find something on him about his time spent in the hospital and what may have helped or hurt him.
This chapter for me is the most interesting so far in this book because it really impacts me personally. I have numerous friends who have a serious mental illness and this chapter showed me the forms of treatment they could have endured if reform had not occurred.
The first thing that was interesting to me was about Phillipe Pinel. I did not know that reform attempts had been attempted so early. His idea of moral treatment thought would not have met today's standards thankfully but he did make way for others to make future reforms and helped to develop early ideas such as behavior modifications. I would really like to learn more about the early attempts at reform and what was considered acceptable and why reforms were finally started.
The next person I was interested in was Benjamin Rush. His methods seem cruel but do reflect the standards and ideals of the times. I have heard of bloodletting before but never have I heard of it being used as a treatment for mental illness. Bloodletting and other devices such as the gyrator and tranquilizer seemed to be temporary forms of controlling people with mental illness and did not have long lasting help for those who claimed to be cured, which can be seen in the example of the main who was given forty-seven different bleedings and then later considered cured but killed himself. I could not imagine this going on today and or seeing a loved one go through this. Thankfully we have moved past this but it is truly a sad remind of what we considered humane and helpful.
The final thing I found most interesting was Dorothea Dix. She was interesting to me because of the passion she showed in traveling to so many institutions uncovering the conditions involved. She showed how the system needed to be fixed and how more funding was needed to better help patients. She helped in creating forty-seven more mental hospitals and schools for the feeble-minded.
I find it hard to pick anything I really did not enjoy reading this chapter. It helped to reinforce some previous knowledge I did have especially about Freud and also show me more information on past care of the mentally ill. If I had to pick a person to learn more about it would be Dorothea Dix or Sigmund Freud.
First what I found to be interesting was the treatment of the mentally ill. I have heard about their poor treatment in many classes that I have taken, but it still shocks me how extreme it was. At a time when “witches” were everywhere, many people who had mental deficiencies were considered to be witches and many were killed, usually burned at the stake or drowned. The “lucky” individuals were allowed to live and were typically chained to some wall where they could be ignored. Over time, they were treated better than they had been previously, but this typically only pertained to those who had money. The poor mentally ill received the worst treatment, if any at all. This is so shocking to me because I am so strongly for treating all people with the dignity and respect they deserve. Treating somebody so poorly and possibly killing them, because they are different is absolutely horrible!
Next what I found to be interesting was Freud’s psychoanalyses and his theories on sex. This was where Freud’s famous couch came in. He would have his patients sit on the couch and speak whatever came to their mind without any censorship. Freud typically thought that these thoughts went back to some sexual desire or repression and was the cause of most of their problems. As he kept experiencing many hysterical patients, he looked for an answer to why they were behaving the way that they were. He came to the conclusion that their hysteria was the cause of some sort of sexual abuse in the past, seduction hypothesis. When he presented his theory to the Vienna Society for Psychiatry and Neurology, it was not well accepted and he was forced rethink this. He decided that the seduction hypothesis was inaccurate and settled on the Oedipal Complex.
Finally I found the section on clinical psychology prior to World War II to be very interesting. Testing became quite popular at the time and so many unqualified individuals started administering psychological services. To combat this growing problem, the APA passed a resolution so that only qualified individuals could administer the tests. This did not work all that well though because many clinicians did not feel welcome in the APA and could not pass the strict requirements for membership. Finally, many had a very low status unless they worked in a highly popularized clinic. This caused them to be very limited in the mental tests that they could administer, many psychiatrists completed the major diagnostic and therapy work. This problem was fixed though when a group of seven clinicians formed the American Association of Clinical Psychologists (AACP). The APA feared that this group would cause the eventual demise of the APA. To ensure that this would not happen, they made it easier to become a member. The group was separated into two categories: full member and associate member. Eventually, this caused the APA to restructure and build different special interest divisions.
I really enjoyed this section and did not really read anything that I found to be uninteresting.
The psychologist I found to be the most interesting in the chapter was Sigmund Freud. I found him so interesting because he is so popular but most of his ideas and theories have been declared untrue and his methods of helping, psychoanalysis, has been found to be ineffective. I also found it incredibly interesting how most of his theories have to do somehow with sex. This really has me wondering why he came to these conclusions and if maybe he had some history of sexual abuse. Freud is also the person that I would like to learn more about.
What I think will be most useful in understanding the history of psychology is Freud and the development of psychoanalysis. This was really the first form of therapy developed. Even though it is no longer accepted as a really effective form of therapy, it was crucial in developing effective methods that are used today.
This chapter relates to a chapter read previously was the sections about mental testing. A few chapters ago we learned about testing and how psychologists applied them to jobs and job selection; intelligence tests were used in acceptance and placement into the army. Many of the tests talked about in this chapter were developed to figure out whether or not a person was considered mentally challenged.
The first thing in chapter 13 that interested me was how Phillepe Pinel instituted humane reform of mentally ill patients. I found this interesting because it was so early in time when there wasn’t anyone else who even really thought that the mentally ill should have moral treatment. He removed the chains from a lot of patients and made improvements in nutrition and personal hygiene of these patients.
Benjamin Rush also interested me because as an American he became a strong advocate of a contemporary belief that many illnesses deived from problems with the blood and circulatory system. In addition to bloodletting he created devicies for calming the blood. Now although this was not an answer, I found it interesting his approach. He had an idea that mentally ill could benefit from therapy! Wow! What an approach.
The final person in this chapter that interested me was Dorthea Dix, mostly because I am always astounded at the accomplishments women made so many years ago when it was difficult to get anything, much less be noted for an accomplishment in anything. She was a crusader for mental health reform and started to examine the conditions of those housed in public institutions. She saw alarming levels of abuse and neglect and brought it to the Massachusets legistlator. She made many advances in the way people were treated in mental institutions after this.
With this chapter being about mental illness and a lot about Frued and hypnosis, there wasn’t much I didn’t find interesting. The part I skimmed through the most was Lightner Witmer and mostly because it was just a lot of background info. The entire chapter gave a good overall of the history of psychology and I would like to learn more about hypnosis & mesmerism.
I found many things interesting about this chapter! One learning all about early treatments of mental illnesses. It is so interesting to see all the unique ways people back then thought up to try and help the people who were "crazy". Figure 12.1, the "tranquilizer chair" is one of my favorites. I have seen different pictures of contraptions they made up back in the day, but this one is pretty silly looking.
The second thing I found most interesting about this chapter was Franz Anton Mesmer's magnetic powers phenomenon. This idea that it was magnetic forces that caused the ill to a distressed person really sounded silly at first, and sounded silly to a lot of the people of his time too. Although, it never mentions in the book something that is still around today called Reiki. Reiki is a Japanese technique for stress reduction and relaxation that also promotes healing. I have seen this done by a good family friend of mine. She never touches her patients. She simply guides her hand a few inches from the body, regulating energy. I have seen it help people. It reminded me a lot of Mesmer's idea of the magnetic forces. I feel like he might have really enjoyed the idea of Reiki.
The third thing I found most interesting about this chapter was something I have heard about from day one of my Psychology study career. The Id, Ego, and Superego. I just love this idea that Freud has given us. It is very well known and one of Freud's well excepted theories. I think a lot about my Id, Ego, and Superego in my daily life. I would like to say that it helps me make decisions, to know of this theory of Freud's. Thanks, Freud!
I am most interesting psychologist from this text would have to be Frued, you can't beet him! But a close second is definitely Mesmer. I have never heard of him, and I really enjoy and respect his ideas.
I think the most useful part of this chapter for learning the history of psychology would have to be the section on "clinical psychology in america". We haven't learned a whole lot about stuff going on in America, or the majority of it has been going on in Europe. It's good to know what was going on in America too!
This wasn't the first time Freud has been brought up in this book. The topic related would have to be him. You can't talk about psychology without mentioning him. He was such a big part of the history of this field.
The person I would like to learn more about his Mesmer. I wan't to dig in more about his studies on magnetic energy.
I thought it was interesting to find out that Freud’s father was 40 and his mother 20 when they married. That kind of gives a little insight into the whole Oedipus Complex thing.
Dorothea Dix seems like an interesting person, the way she went on a one woman crusade to reform mental health treatment. It’s nice to read about someone who really made an effort - at great personal expense, I imagine - to improve the quality of life for a group of mistreated people, with no promise of reward or recognition for herself. I’d like to learn more about her because of that.
Mesmer also seems like an interesting person. The comparison to faith healers in class today was helpful and apt. It makes me curious what he was like, in person, to have that effect on people.
I thought the information on Charcot’s view of hypnosis (“… because some patients were indeed malingerers, hypnosis was the means of separating the true hysterics from the fakes. Only true hysterics could be hypnotized, Charcot believed” [HMP, 413]) was interesting. It sounds like something from the Salem witch trials.
I thought that the section on Freud could have been more interesting. He was so prolific, and explored such a wide range of topics. I agree with Ellis’ assessment (HMP, 429) that, even though Freud may not have been 100% right about everything, he still had some damned interesting ideas.
I think that in a way, Freud’s theories of the unconscious relate to behaviorism (chapter 11), the way incidents in the past may have shaped our present behaviors.
I think that what will be most useful to my study of the history of psychology will be the understanding that, even though we may think we have made great advances in the treatment of the mentally ill, it is still possible that at some point in the future we may look back at current methods and consider them just as barbaric as the chains and ‘therapeutic devices’ (e.g., the gyrator and the tranquilizer chair) of the past.
Franz Anton Mesmer is an interesting individual from this chapter. I thought it was weird at first that he claimed to be able to treat people with magnets. I soon learned that this was only the tip of the iceberg for Mesmer. Later Mesmer believed that he possessed some type of magnetic powers himself. What struck me as most interesting about this guy is that even though others proved that there was nothing that supported his claims he continued practicing, and people continue coming to him for help.
Clifford Beers is an especially interesting person. He was living proof that some people are able to overcome mental problems. Not only did he overcome them he then set out to try and help prevent people from having metal illness. He also criticized some of the people who worked with the mentally ill saying that they were not doing a good job.
I found Benjamin Rush interesting because he set out to try and help people who were mentally ill in a couple different ways. He created a thing called the gyrator, and something called the tranquilizer. Rush was a promoter of bloodletting. Seems crazy to me but I am sure that it sounded like a very logical thing to do during his time.
What I found to be least interesting in this chapter was a lot of the stuff on Sigmund Freud. Freud is a psychologist that is talked about so much so I guess I have gotten a little tired of hearing about his ideas and beliefs. A lot of the stuff I read about him in the chapter is stuff I have read, or learned about it multiple classes. Another thing that I read in this chapter was the reason why Adler and Jung broke away from Freud. I guess I was not surprised to learn that they broke away from him over his ideas about sex. I know that some of his ideas or theories can be pretty hard to accept.
I found Lightner Witmer to be the most interesting psychologist in the chapter for a couple different reasons. First of all he has a very unique name so that caused me to focus well in this section. What I found most interesting was that although he did spend some time in Leipzig for the most part he stayed in one place (around Pennsylvania). A lot of other people I have read about in this class have bounced around to a lot of different places. The last thing I found really interesting and good about him was that he sought to apply his work to the improvement of people’s lives.
I think that reading about the general shift feelings on mental illnesses will be most useful in understanding the history of psychology. If nothing else this sets the stage for things that were to come. I cannot say that a lot of treatments were developed that drastically changed things, but at least people began to look at the mentally ill differently. It was especially helpful to see that some people could be helped out of a state of mental illness. I think that gave a lot of psychologist in this area hope.
One topic that was discussed in earlier chapters that was also covered in this chapter was laboratory psychology. This chapter talked about Lightner Witmer and interest in laboratory psychology. Like many American psychologist he spent time in Leipzig learning about laboratory. He then took what he learned and brought it back to America and created the first psychology clinic.
The individual from this chapter that I would like to learn more about is Franz Anton Mesmer. I would like to learn more about him because he is both interesting and controversial. When I think about some of the techniques that he used I begin to wonder if there may have been something wrong with him. I know that he was living in a time very different from the time I live in, but I wonder if anyone ever wondered if he was crazy or anything.
I found this chapter extremely interesting as it shows the tranformation in the treatment techniques used to treat the mentally ill.There were a lot of interesting facts in this chapter.
The first ting that i found interesting in this chapter is the information about the ways that were used in order to treat the mentally ill in the past,in particular Benjamin Rush's techniques like Bloodletting,tranqulizer etc.It was interesting to read that these techniques were regarded to be just and novel even when they are straight up cruel.
The second thing that i found interesting was reading about Dorthea Dix.I really liked how she actually tried to examine and change the awful conditions that the less fortunate and mentally ill were provided.The amount of time and effort she put in order to change those conditions actually help improve the conditions.
The third thing that i found interesting was reading about Sigmund Frued.I find Freud's work extremely interesting and really liked to read about his work on the Anna O case.I liked to read about his early work with Breuer and why they had a fallout.
There wasnt anything that i found uninteresting in this chapter.
This chapter relates to the previous chapter as it shows the actual application of the theories.I would like to know more about Dorthea Dix's work.
Sigmund Frued's work is very important in psychology and will be the most useful information when studying psychology.
Chapter 12 was a very interesting chapter that kept my attention the entire time. I really thought the author did a good job clearing some misconceptions I had about the treatment of the mentally ill and the “myths” of Sigmund Freud’s theories. I had always thought that Freud’s ideas associated with sex were his own, but they in fact were not. Freud is probably the most well known psychologist of all time, but what we know about him is not nearly enough as what we could know if he didn’t hide and burn some of his research. Just think if we had access to some of these missing files what would be out there. I was very intrigued by that part in the chapter.
Another topic discussed in the chapter that I really found enlightening was right at the beginning. The author shared that the treatment of mentally ill was not completely bleak in the past before reforms, but it was still pretty bad. I was surprised that there was some practice of humane treatment as early as was stated, and I think the author pointed that out well. The horrifying scenes that Dorothea Dix witnessed were a little hard to read as well. I could just picture people being held together by chains in small rooms filled with their own feces. I was disgusted but at the same amazed at her willingness to continue her crusade for asylum reform.
I also thought the case of “Victor” was very interesting because it reminded me of the “Genie” case we discussed in class today. His parents supposedly abandoned him in the forest, and he became one of the “wild.” I think it’s so crazy that there are real cases like these because it’s really hard for me to understand that a parent could have the capability of abusing their own child. Unfortunately it occurs, and it becomes a psychologist’s dream to study.
There wasn’t much that didn’t interest me from this chapter, but something that I could have done without was the close-up on diagnosing mental illness. It was all information I had previously learned in my abnormal psychology class, and I was more interested in the rest of the chapter than this section.
I think learning about the history of the treatment of the mentally ill is very important in understanding the history of psychology. We were talking in class about how the system for mentally ill who may have committed a crime are treated shockingly similar as they were before reform took place. It is an interesting and sad truth that we think of the mentally ill as “out of sight, out of mind,” and by learning about this history will hopefully make more people understand that the current system we have is not working.
Mesmer’s practices of mesmerism and hypnosis reminded me of phrenology from chapter 3 because these ideas were both criticized by other psychologists. They were also therapies that only the rich could afford to do, and they became an entertaining show business-like gimmick to many people.
I think I would like to learn more about is Benjamin Rush because of his interesting techniques he devised to help treat the mentally ill. His intentions were probably in the right place with many of these therapies, but some were just extreme. I would like to know more about how he came up with these ideas and how successful (and unsuccessful) he was.
The first thing that I found interesting in chapter 12 is the various devices used as a remedy to mental illness. The first thing that I thought was interesting is the cure of bloodletting. Benjamin Rush believed that mental illness stemmed from hypertension in the brain's blood vessels. In order to reduce this tension, the veins would have to be opened letting the blood out until the mentally ill person reached a state of tranquility. Rush created two additional devices that worked with the blood as a way to calm it. One was the gyrator, which was a revolving board on which a patient would be spun around with the idea that all of their blood would rush towards their head. The second is the tranquilizer. This was a complex chair used for restraint. It was believed that if the person had limited movement, then the pulse rate would be reduced.
The second thing that I found interesting in this chapter is Franz Anton Mesmer's animal magnetism. As a scientist Mesmer was aware and interested in magnets and electricity. Mesmer believed that people could be affected directly through magnetic powers. If the opposite forces of magnetism were to become aligned, the person would have potential for ill health. "Illness resulted from the disharmony of forces opposing each other." The cure to Mesmer was to straighten out the forces of the body. He thought that he could cure people by giving them medicines with heavy doses of iron. Although he did not know it, animal magnetism later would be classified as the power of suggestion on human behavior.
I found the two terms free association and resistance to be very interesting. Resistance is a common phrase that is heard today, but when the term is paired with free association, it is definitely something that links us to psychology and Freud. His psychoanalytic practice involved placing patients in a relaxed position and encouraged to say whatever came to their minds. This was conducted on Freud’s famous couch. Although this is a simple term and action, it is cool seeing this in movies or hearing of it in doctor’s offices. It is cool knowing that it originated with Sigmund Freud.
I found Dorothea Dix to be uninteresting compared to the rest of the content in the chapter. Of course working toward better living conditions and treatment of the mentally ill is a very admirable thing, I felt like everything else in the chapter cast a shadow over these few pages. I am more interested in the bad conditions of the asylums rather than fixing those bad conditions.
What I read in this chapter that I think will be the most important to understanding the history of psychology is the initial proposition made by psychologists to try and figure out how to treat mental illness. For example, bloodletting would seem like a crazy way to cure someone today, but back then it wasn't. We can only learn if we try.
This chapter was actually very different from the other chapters that we have previously read. The previous chapters covered a lot of where ideas and people originated from. This chapter to me is more about concepts and terms rather than explaining the background of the people that coined those terms. In all, this chapter was similar somewhat in a way that we have briefly mentioned some of the same people in previous chapters.
The person that I would like to read about more from this chapter is Clifford Beers. I said earlier that I was not interested in Dorothea Dix, so in the aspect of Beers, I am not interested in knowing how he wanted to modify asylums and treatment of the mentally ill. I am interested in his life experience of being mentally ill and what in general happened to him. I want to know what type of abuse specifically altered the recovery for mentally ill patients. I want to know if he had any drastic relapses after his mental illness was cured. I would like to know more about the book A Mind That Found Itself which appeared in 1908.
One major stereotype of psychologists is that we’re all shrinks and work in looney bins. So I found the portion on Mesmer rather interesting and somewhat ironic. Mesmer, in some ways, though of himself as a human magnet, thinking his body had magnetic properties/powers. This is somewhat of a crazy, or “looney”, idea. He also had other “different” ideas about magnetism. He believed in magnetism as a healing mechanism. So reading the irony in this portion made me chuckle a little at the irony.
On a more interesting level rather than humorous, I found the mesmerism portion very fascinating. I have never heard of it before. It’s somewhat like hypnosis, which I am a firm believer in. I was hypnotized at my senior prom, and I can honestly say it worked. I do not remember a thing and apparently I did some interesting things on stage. Mesmerism, though very similar to hypnosis, is even stranger than hypnosis. While reading the text, I almost got a vision of witchcraft in my mind.
Another interesting and horrific portion to this chapter was discussing how the mentally ill use to be “treated”. It breaks my heart to think of these poor victims not only suffering through a mental illness, but had to be tortured on top of that. It shows what a long way as a science we have came. To go from that, to now being known as a science that HELPS people. I think this is an extremely important thing to understand and know while studying the history of psychology. One of the number one reasons why we study the past is to examine our mistakes and make sure that they do not repeat themselves. This was a huge mistake, and its important to study it in order for it to never happen again.
The most uninteresting portion was on Freud. Don’t get me wrong, I definitely see the significance and importance he brought to the science of psychology. However, I knew about Freud way before I even took a high school psychology course. You hear about him and his work all the time, especially when taking multiple psychology courses. I see the importance, but have heard it all before somewhere or another.
I believe Dorthea Dix was the most interesting and important applied psychologist in this chapter. As I stated earlier, I feel just awful of how the mentally ill used to be treated by professionals, and she came in and helped the conditions of these mental hospitals so much. She was such an impressive woman because she was able to accomplish these improvements when women were not treated like equals to men in the slightest. She was such a strong and brave woman to accomplish all that she did and because of that is insanely inspiring. Because she is so inspiring, I would love to hear more about her. I’ve only read a little of her greatness, and I’m sure she’s done so much more, though it almost seems impossible!
It was hard to pinpoint just one thing that relates to the previous chapters, but I feel like this chapter as a whole was very different than the previous chapters we have read. It had a different feel to it, but I do see how it relates because of a common goal: Treating the mentally ill. Though we read about some failures in that department, it is easy to see that common theme in the history of psychology. Its nice to know that even though the outcomes weren’t the best, the intentions were (somewhat) pure.
One thing that I found interesting from this chapter was Freud. I have always found Freud to be interesting, because he has some very different ideas, but I still think he does have some good theories. Something Freud is most known for is that he leads most everything to sex and sexual desires. He even relates sexual desires to small children with the Oedipus and Electra Complex’s. Freud did have many good theories such as defense mechanisms. These mechanisms can be seen in many individuals and it helps them to be understood and can be very beneficial for therapy. Psychoanalysis is a very important contribution, and I believe it is very important to look into people’s past and discover the root of their problem or problems. I would like to be a counselor and this is something that I hope to use, to help people overcome their problems.
Another thing that I found interesting was the old forms of dealing with the mentally ill. These methods seem like they are ridiculous, but people in the future will probably say the same about things that we are doing today. It is interesting to see how far we have come, and realize how much further we still have to go. One of the weird things was bloodletting. This consisted of causing individuals to bleed until they reached a tranquil state. In actuality the “tranquil” state was really just their bodies becoming weak from the loss of blood. This was believed to be the cure for many illnesses including mental illness. Another method was the gyrator which spun patients around with the intensions of redistributing blood. These were only two of the strange methods that were used in the treatment of the mentally ill.
The last thing that I found interesting was Mesmer and his animal magnetism and hypnosis. I think that he had a creative idea about helping the mentally ill, it just wasn’t quite right. He believed that mental illness was like magnets pushing against each other when they are not on the right side. His idea was to use magnets to realign individuals to have the right magnetism. He ended up just showed the power of suggestion and this turned into hypnosis. Eventually, Mesmer got rid of the magnets and just used hypnosis. It is said he has some success, but this was not the way his original theory had been planned.
I did not find anything in this chapter uninteresting, because I am very interested in this topic. I found Freud most interesting, because he has so crazy theories that are very fascinating to me. I think what is most important is seeing where treatment of the mentally ill started and to see where it has come to now and how things have changed. In this chapter Freud relates to Darwin, because they both had ideas that were very out-there and they were both highly criticized for it, but they stuck to what they believed. I would like to learn more about Freud because I find him so interesting with all of his theories.
The first thing I found interesting in Chapter 12 was the sections regarding the better treatment of the mentally ill during the enlightenment period. I thought the section on moral treatment was very interesting. It is often sad to think that these mentally ill people, were not adequately fed or taken care of or given proper hygiene and care.
The second thing I found interesting in this chapter was the section on Dorthea Dix and her work done to improve the institutions that cared for the mentally ill. It was interesting to read about her and the fact that what she said and did about the institutions that the Massachusetts legislature stepped in and helped the situation.
I also found the section on hysteria to be interesting, in that they believed it was condition only suffered by women. While hysteria and PMS symptoms can sometimes be similar its always interesting to read about these concepts and see how they have evolved over the year. It also sparks my interesting in how the origin of a word can cause people to make so many assumptions or thoughts about hysteria.
The least interesting section of the chapter in my opinion was the section on hypnosis and animal magnetism. I did not find them very interesting and they were difficult to read.
I found the applied psychologist in this chapter (Sigmund Freud) to be interesting because he is often talked about in Education, although now days his theories or conclusions have been disregarded, updated or have been revised to better be applicable to situations. I always find reading about his theories to be fascinating and to challenge, and also reflect on certain concepts or thought processes I might have.
I believe that the mental illness in this chapter is relatable to the behaviorism concepts in the other chapters, because there seems to be a connection between acceptable and unacceptable behavior and mental illness in that individuals do not always grasp these abstract concepts or boundaries when acting in a particular situation.
One person from this chapter that I would like to learn more about is Dorthea Dix. I would like to read more about her work in reforming mental institutions and the influence she had on politicians to make a change in a place in society and time when such topics were not discussed or talked about openly.
This chapter starts out by explaining the early treatment of the mentally ill. I found this interesting because when a person was considered to show abnormal behavior, many people believed that individual was evil or possessed by the devil. Rather than helping a person, many were tortured and put to death. Some were burned while others were drowned as a “witch.” As we discussed in class and in the book, if one is considered to be morally deficient, and dangerous to society because of their misbehavior, or incurable troubles, and in need of being locked away from decent folks; out of sight, out of mind. This simply means, by putting them away, the public will not be bothered by their actions because they do not have to deal with it. However, this isn’t good for those who are considered mentally ill because they are not getting the proper help that they need and instead may get worse by being locked away and receiving harsh treatment. This is a controversial issue even today and is something that needs to be dealt with in society so that mentally ill people can get the help they need rather than just being put away like they don’t exist.
Not everyone was oblivious to the harsh treatment that the mentally ill received; there have been many people taking a stand in order to make a difference and aid the mentally ill hoping to make things better. One person I found interesting in this movement was Philipe Pinel. He is considered one of the best-known reformers who instituted humane reforms. Something that wasn’t mentioned in the book that I had actually learned in my abnormal psychology class was that one of Pinel’s close friends “lost his reason” and was locked up in a madhouse. The friend escaped and his body was found half eaten by wolves or, more likely, wild dogs. This is what got Pinel interested in insanity. We learn that his most dramatic action was to remove the chains from patients; some chains were replaced by more modern and “humane” forms of restraint. Pinel brought in the concept of reform to mental institutions. His overall program was referred to as “moral treatment.” This included patient nutrition, hygiene, and general living conditions, and an early form of behavior modification using rewards and punishments to bring some order into the lives of the patients. Pinel’s reforms united the Enlightenment faith in progress and the revolutionary desire to liberate the oppressed.
The third part of this chapter I found interesting was Mesmerism and Animal Magnetism. In this section we learn about Franz Mesmer. He held a doctorate in philosophy and a medical degree from Vienna Medical School. Mesmer believed that he could cure patients by the use of magnets. He called his theory of illness and cure animal magnetism. Mesmer was unaware that he demonstrated the power of suggestion on human behavior; he had discovered what would later be renamed hypnosis. Mesmer is another psychologist I learned about in my abnormal psychology class and we were actually given an example of one of his cases. Maria, one of Mesmer’s cases, was an eighteen year old pianist who had been blind since age four. She appeared to be partially cured by Mesmer. However, the Committee to Sustain Morality acted against Mesmer following rumors of an affair with Maria. After that, Mesmer was forced out of Vienna and went to Paris and began elaborate treatment regime for the wealthy, mostly women. Patients gathered around large tubs containing magnetized bottles of water. The floor was carpeted and curtains were drawn, mirrors reflected lights and astrological signs decorated the walls for mystic appeal. If the procedures failed to produce a “crisis state” (a type of trance) then Mesmer, dressed in a lilac robe and carrying a wand would try to force magnetic fluid from her body. Failing that, he would gently urn his fingers across her upper abdomen to induce tingle until she felt the fluid pass through her. Because most of his clients were women, many rumors were circulated. I enjoyed being able to relate these two courses to one another because I was able to gain more information concerning Mesmer’s work.
I am starting to see that the closer we get to finishing this textbook, the more things are becoming repetitive. While reading this chapter, I found it difficult to focus sometimes because I have already had a chance to look at these psychologists and their work. However, I did gain some more information about some of them. I would have to say the least interesting part of this chapter was in fact all of the information about Sigmund Freud. I am a psychology major so I have ran across Freud’s work many times. I find him very interesting but if I had to choose one part that I wasn’t as excited to read about, it would have to be all of the repetitive information on Freud.
Between this course and my abnormal psychology course, I find Dorothea Dix to be the most interesting psychologists. I have learned that she was the daughter of a frequently drunk preacher who was a Harvard dropout. She is a good example of how someone can rise above their tough times and make a difference. She was responsible for the construction of thirty-two large state hospitals to help the mentally ill and provide good treatment. Dix is a very honorable woman who stopped at nothing to establish hospitals for the treatment of the insane.
The information presented to us dealing with the mentally ill is important to know in understanding the history of psychology. When we look at the treatments that were once used, we can see how we have advanced, or sometimes, how we have fallen back in treatments for the mentally ill. I agree with the discussion we had in class about the mentally ill and how they were once treated and looking at how we feel we have advanced, but have we? I think that is interesting to think about because as mentioned in class, maybe a hundred years from now they will look back at how we are treating the mentally ill now and see it as being just as odd as we think when we look back. There is a lot of interesting things that were brought up and it gives us all more things to look at in understanding where we are now and where we might go in the future.
This chapter relates back to other chapters because we are continuing to see how psychology is evolving and how the treatment of patients is changing as well. We are seeing that treatment is becoming more humane and that the previous thoughts of a person being considered possessed by the devil have changed into trying to understand how to help those with mental illness. We are presented with more and more psychologists who are concerned with human well-being and doing what they can to find the means to help them.
I would like to learn more about Franz Mesmer just because I find his theory of treating patients with magnets very interesting. If you think about it, people are still using magnet bracelets, necklaces, anklets, etc. to help treat some part of themselves. I would just like to know more about Mesmer and see if his theory led to the magnets that are still used today.
Three things from the chapter that I found interesting were the development of hypnotism as a useful (and accepted) psychological tool, Charcot and the study of hysteria, and the development of humanistic psychology.
Hypnotism has always been pretty interesting to me. I've been hypnotized in a stage show before, but I found myself wondering even during the show if I was actually hypnotized or not (maybe I never was?). It was very interesting for me to read about its development from Mesmer's hoodoo-voodoo quackery to the widespread legitimate anesthetic technique that it became before the development of chemical anesthesia.
Hysteria is another interesting phenomenon, because it shows that science is often the product of the time and place in which it is practiced. Hysteria was originally thought to be an exclusively-female disorder, with very interesting symptoms. I thought it was very telling that Charcot's demonstrators would compete for the stage. It raises interesting questions about how real this hysteria was, as contemporary researchers noted.
I was also interested in the development of humanistic psychology as a reaction to psychoanalysis and behaviorism, although I've always harbored a distaste for humanistic psychology, because it seems to be more of an emotional reaction than a substantive criticism.
I did not find Freud's structure of personality to be very interesting, mostly because I've heard it in several classes already. There's also a good book that I read in high school called Lord of the Flies, which is an allegory for Freud's structure, with the three main characters representing id, ego, and superego.
I found Charcot to be the most interesting psychologist in this chapter, because I think his failure to establish the legitimacy of hysteria as a mental disorder is very revealing about the nature of science: science is communal, and the reason that one or another theory is parsed from the body of scientific knowledge is often because it was unpopular. In the case of Charcot, it was unpopular for good reason, but I think too many people fail to see the communal nature of science in general (including myself at times).
I think Freud will probably be the most important for understanding the history of psychology, because Freud and psychoanalysis is still what everyone thinks of when they think of psychology. I'm sure I'll be asked to "analyze" my entire family at the Thanksgiving dinner table, and the same is probably true of 99% of psychology students. We have Freud's paradigm of psychoanalysis to thank for that.
I think it's really interesting to think about the way physiology impacts psychology. When we read both the chapter about physiology and this chapter about clinical psychology, it is really interesting to think about the relationship between physiology and behavior/cognition. Could the symptoms of people who had hysteria be explained using physiology, or did they experience real symptoms as a result of mere suggestion?
I think the person I would like to learn more about would probably be Freud, just because he seems to central to the history of clinical mental care (although this area of psychology is not one I am particularly interested in).
Chapter 12 of our textbook was one of my favorite thus far. I enjoyed reading on animal magnetism, because it is mentioned in one of my favorite movies called “Dinner for Schmucks.” I am also interested in the photo of “the tranquilizer.” I find it so shocking looking at this photo, but I was amazed at how the textbook author describes these scenes in a perspective of the time and all. Otherwise the tranquilizer seems torturous and horrible. Thirdly, I found interest in the liberate literal meaning of lifting the chains of mental illness as some of early reformers in the chapter were noted for literally, releasing folks from chain restraint. Things seem so brutal sometimes.
I am interested in how it took someone living through mental illness institutions to be able to make a large difference, like Clifford Beers. Sometimes this is necessary it seems, such as in times of social movements when folks “get arrested” for certain things to bring attention to them or relate to others in similar situations, for example, John Scopes, M. Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Eugene Debs, and more. The tranquilizer discussed in this chapter reminded me of perspectives discussed in early chapter like John Guillotine as a horrible contraption actually may have had humane intentions. I am interested in studying more on Clifford Beers. Thanks!!
One of the things I found interesting in chapter 12 was the names that were presented to me. If we had a test in this class, I would ace it. I mean, I literally can’t forget these names. I first thought this when I saw the name Benjamin Rush. The guy invented bloodletting, which I also found very intriguing. So I guess in this case, the phrase should be stated “a rush of blood to the…dead?” Next, I read the name Itard. Not only does the “R” word closely sound like this name, but it is actually says this word in the paragraph that introduces this woman. As I read on, I noticed that there was a section called Dix and Beers. So…yeah I think I will remember these names. Moving on, I would like to learn more about The Wild Boy of Aveyron. What I learned in this chapter is that this case was about a boy named Victor that had been abandoned by his parents and managed to survive alone in the woods. This reminded me of the movie Nell. Animal magnetism surprised me with its definition. I want to read Beer’s A Mind That Found itself. I want to learn more about the Anna O. case and there wasn’t much I found uninteresting. I like to learn about mental illness and that’s why I am here.