Introduction
The World Health Organisation defines health as a ‘state of complete physical, mental and
social well being and not merely the absence of disease/infirmity (WHO, 1948). This,
however, has not always been the case. Mental health has not always been taken into
consideration and a doctor visit in 1920 differs significantly from one today. Perceptions
surrounding mentality and mental disease have been evolving along with society’s views and
with the evolution of the medical science and psychiatry. This report will refer to the
historical view and perception of mental health from the stone age to the modern-day and the
ways psychopathology is defined, across different eras and cultures. It will later dive into
different perceptions, from the point of view of biological, psychological approaches and
deviations from norms. Furthermore, there will be an attempt to analyze and evaluate these
perceptions upon the sensitive issue of mental health, that has been concerning humans from
the very beginnings of time.
Historical view and analysis of the concept of psychopathology overtime
Physical health and mental disorders’ dimensions have been explored for thousands of
years. In ancient times, and in most cultures, mental disorders were explained through a
supernatural approach, that people who suffered were simply possessed by evil or demonic
higher powers, often as a form of punishment by the Gods. Early cultures and civilizations
such as the ancient Greek, Arabic, Indian, Chinese and many more, have developed cures and
can now help us comprehend the way mental health and disease was understood in these
various eras. (Weiss, 2018).
The first indications of mental disorders are traced in the lithic era (Coleman, Butcher,
& Carson, 1980). In various caves, murals have been found depicting psychopathologic
characteristics as well as methods of intervention. Α practice in the early Neolithic period
, (10.000 BC-3.000 BC) was something like today’s craniotomy, called Trephination. It is like
a kind of prehistoric-time neurosurgery.
Skeletal remains of children’s skulls in France from back in 6.500 BC and in China
from 5.000 BC portray the way these civilizations treated the mentally impaired (Weiss,
2018). Healers such as mystics, shamans, magicians and priests were called to treat illness
and heal sickness, using rituals, incantation and offerings, or being in a trance state (Weiss,
2018). These supernatural views are now rejected, they have however created a stigma
around mental health that the world is still struggling to completely rid of.
In ancient Egypt, Elbers papyrus (1552 BC), which is the oldest medical document
preserved, indicates that in Egypt, the heart and the uterus were the basis of mental health. In
the Pharaonic era, soma and psyche were not differentiated, and there was both a physical
and magic-religious treatment of mental illness (Okasha, 2005). In the Egyptian culture, the
roles of the priest, magician and physician were not separated.
In ancient Greece, worshipers would visit Asclepios’ Sanctuaries hoping for a cure.
They slept wishing for the healing god, Asclepios, to come in their dream to perform a
medical procedure or to prescribe a regimen for the cure, for a broad spectrum of diseases,
both physical and mental. (Wickkiser, 2008). One of these sanctuaries is in Epidaurus, next to
the ancient theatre, while others were at Trikke and the island of Kos.
Hippocratic medicine has also raised body and mind issues, similarly to modern
science. An essential element in his practice was that disease is caused due to an imbalance in
the four humours ratio. (Kalachanis,& Michailidis, 2015). Thus, Hippocrates, the founding
father of medicine, developed a holistic approach in the 5th century BC, examining body,
personality, behaviour and temperament.
