Madness in Civilization

How has madness been viewed and treated throughout history? In order to answer that broad question, we need to start with some definitions. What exactly is “madness”?

The author defines madness as “a lasting and massive disturbance of intellect, reason and emotion.” It’s a term that’s been used to characterize many different types of mental illnesses, conditions that include depression, mania or hallucinations.

Over the course of history, the causes of madness have been hotly debated. One of the central questions was whether it came from within or had an external origin.

In the Judeo-Christian tradition, madness was seen as a God-induced punishment.

The Bible tells us the story of King Saul. He was punished by God for disobeying divine orders to eradicate the rival Amalekite tribe. God punished Saul by casting madness upon him.

There was, though, another aspect to Saul’s divinely-induced madness. It was said that he obtained prophetic qualities through it. In fact, his ravings were interpreted as prophecies from God.

He wasn’t the only prophet to have had a close association with madness. What might have been treated later in history was seen then in a different light. For instance, “mad” Jeremiah was said to have prophesied the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem.

The Greeks and Romans, conversely, saw madness as coming from within and had scientific theories about its causes.

The Hippocratic corpus of medical writings preferred to identify more naturalistic and physical causes for madness. The body was thought to consist of four “humors”: blood, phlegm, yellow bile and black bile. When these elements were balanced, a person was thought to be mentally and physically healthy.

However, when unbalanced in the body, these humors could lead to the onset of madness.

Greek and Roman doctors therefore treated mental illness by attempting to balance the humors. Exercise or a change of diet were thought to assist in achieving equilibrium.