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imes labeled their opponents as being mentally ill as an excuse to
imprison them, there is little evidence that all people with mental illness are just being labeled for
being a threat to the social order. What evidence is there that mental illness is more than just a
method of labeling those whose behaviors makes us uncomfortable?
What Is a Nervous Breakdown?
When discussing mental illness, many students will mention knowing someone who has had a
“nervous breakdown,” and will ask what it is. You might discuss the fact that the term "nervous
breakdown" is not a valid clinical term; technically, there is no such thing, However, it has been
informally used by the general public to describe a variety of mental health problems. Sometimes
it has been used to describe an individual who has experienced a psychotic episode. Other times
it has been used to describe an individual who has had a major depressive episode. You might
discuss with students the types of symptoms shown by someone they have heard has suffered a
nervous breakdown. Perhaps they can find a more clinically accurate diagnosis of what the
person has actually experienced.
TIMELINE
Year Event
1793 Philippe Pinel was appointed head of the Asylum of Bicetre, France. He
immediately sought to improve living conditions and treatment of patients.
1796 William Turk opened the York Retreat in England, a country asylum without
bars or manacles.
1824 Eli Todd founded the Hartford Retreat in the U.S., an institution that sought
to provide proper medical, as well as psychological, treatment for patients.
1841 Dorothea Dix began her campaign for proper care and housing of the
mentally ill.
1859 Charles Darwin published On the Origin of the Species by a Means of Natural
Selection.
1896 Sigmund Freud eschewed use of hypnosis as a therapeutic tool.
1900 Sigmund Freud wrote what many considered to be his best book, The
Interpretation of Dreams.
1908 Clifford Beers, a former mental patient, founded the National Committee for
Mental Hygiene in Connecticut. Among the Committee’s charter members
was William James. The committee later became known as the National
Association for Mental He
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