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Afghanistan's Mentally Ill Turn To Shrines For Help (PHOTOS)

This is a sad situation for the mentally ill in Afghanistan. Seems similiar to how the mentally ill were treated in the US up through the late 1800s. Treatments in Mental Health: A Brief History | Warner Perspectives


"The U.S. in the 1800’s: Mental patients were chained in basement cells. Public viewing of patients was allowed for entertainment purposes.

1812: Benjamin Rush, a founding father of psychiatry, writes Medical Inquiries and Observations, Upon the Diseases of the Mind. Saw mental illness as psychological and believed the cause to be abnormal blood circulation. Continued the use of bloodletting, spinning therapy, and the “tranquilizer chair,” a device used to control blood flow to the brain, reduce motor activity, and reduce the force and frequency of pulse.

The U.S. in the Late 1800’s: Moral treatment of patients was finally considered. Spinning devices were banned and patients were given food and clothing. Patients were trained to act in a civil manner in exchange for certain privileges."

From above linked rochester.edu/blog