Mental health problems such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and anxiety related disorders have always been present in society but the ways in which we have dealt with them over the years has changed dramatically.
In mediaeval times people who showed symptoms of a disorganised mind were often subjected to barbaric treatments and many had to endure unimaginable suffering at the mercy of an uninformed and uneducated society who believed that mental health problems were supernatural in origin and the work of devils and demons.
Even as recently as the early part of the 20th century, proper mental health care as we would expect today was non existent. People with mental health problems were invariably detained in asylums where the focus was on restraint and confinement as opposed to treatment and recovery. Although some were discharged back into society, many people who found themselves in a mental institution would never actually leave.
It was around the 1930's that new forms of treatment were introduced which included electroconvulsive therapy and lobotomy which although controversial, had a big impact on mental health care, however, the most dramatic change came with the introduction of new drugs.
In the early 1950's the first antipsychotic drugs appeared and completely revolutionised mental health treatment. The first of these was chlorpromazine which was marketed as Largactil the UK and Thorazine in the US. Following on from then, new types of anti depressants were introduced including the mood stabilising drug Lithium which proved to be effective for the treatment of bipolar disorder.
Are drugs always the answer?
The problem with drugs is that the benefits have to be weighed up against the risk of side effects, which in some cases can be severe. We also have to consider whether or not the evidence regarding the effectiveness of drugs is unbiased. Let's face it, there is a lot of money at stake for the pharmaceutical companies, only recently we were reading in the press that some of the research regarding Prozac was suppressed and that it didn't work as well as many believed.
There is no doubt that drugs do have an important role in the treatment of mental health problems, particularly for the more severe disorders, however, many professionals and patients today are looking for a more drug free approach, particularly for milder forms of depression and anxiety related disorders.
Moving forward
The recent discovery that a lack of Omega 3 fatty acids may play an important contributory role in the development of mental health problems has led to countless studies into the effectiveness of fish oil as a potential treatment and the results are more than promising.
There is also an increasing recognition of the effectiveness of so called talking therapies and as such more and more people are being referred for some form of psychotherapy either alongside or instead of medication.
Nowadays, there is a much greater emphasis on treatment as a step towards full and complete recovery from a mental health problem.
Yes, we've come a long way as far as our understanding of mental health issues is concerned and we now care for people who are suffering better than we ever have in the past but we still have a long way to go.
What we all need to be aware of is that any single one of us could develop a mental health problem at any time of our lives and therefore we should all work together to help to eradicate the stigma that people suffering from mental health problems still have to face, even today.
