History of Bipolar Disorder

As of late I've been curious about the earliest days of Bipolar. I've found some very interesting information and compiled it here.

From 300 to 500 AD, some people with bipolar disorder were euthanized, according to Cara Gardenswartz, PhD, who is in private practice in Beverly Hills, California, with specific expertise in bipolar disorder and in its history. Those with bipolar were thought to be possessed by demons. They would be chained down, blood let out, or electric eels would be applied to the skull. It's horrific to think what I may have endured in those days.

“Less is known about bipolar disorder from 1000 to 1700 AD, but in the 18th and 19th centuries, we adopted a healthier overall approach to mental disorders,” says Dr. Gardenswartz.

The ancient Greeks and Romans coined the terms “mania” and “melancholia” and used waters of northern Italian spas to treat agitated or euphoric patients. From 300 to 400 BC, the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle had thanked “melancholia” for the gifts of artists, poets, and writers, the creative minds of his time. Conversely, in the Middle Ages, those afflicted with mental illness were thought to be guilty of wrongdoing: their illness was surely a manifestation of bad deeds, it was thought.

German psychiatrist Emil Kraepelin (1856–1926) formulated the separate terms “manic-depression” and “dementia praecox,” the latter later named “schizophrenia” by Eugène Bleuler (1857–1940).
Widespread use of the term “manic depression” prevailed until the early 1930s, it was even used until the 1980s and 1990s. Also during the early 1900s, Sigmund Freud broke new ground when he used psychoanalysis with his manic-depressive patients: biology then took a back seat. He implicated childhood trauma and unresolved developmental conflicts in bipolar disorder.
In the early 1950s, German psychiatrist Karl Leonhard and colleagues initiated the classification system that led to the term “bipolar,” differentiating between unipolar and bipolar depression.

The use of sedatives and barbiturates prior to the 1950s was common for bipolar. Patients were also institutionalized to separate them from others. Hot baths continued to be used through the ages, presumed to calm the person down. Electroconvulsive shock therapy and prefrontal lobotomies emerged as two more radical treatment options until new methods evolved and were accepted.

Today there are several specific medications for bipolar itself, myself having tried several of them. My struggle is day to day with bipolar. From the moment I get out of bed till I lay my head on the pillow at night. Hopefully this insight into the history of bipolar has shed some light on your condition and allows you to be grateful for the more humane treatment we receive today. There is still a strong stigma attached to bipolar and mental illness. The more we know the sooner the stigma will fade.
Source: BPHope