In what ways did individuals such as Paracelsus, Agrippa, Weyer, Scot, and Plater improve the plight of the mentally ill?
When the era was on the verge of believing people to be possessed with demons and their indulgence with witchcraft, there were some sane people who opposed these myths and believed in great work and hard labor.
Philippus Paracelsus was a Swiss physician, who rejected the fact of disorders related to spiritual world. He observed that herbal redressal can be of great help in treating the disorders. He understood that the combinations of chemicals in the remedies were the main reason behind the curing effect therefore he conducted many experiments in order to study the specific effectiveness of specific chemical.
Incidentally, he mixed alcohol with sulfuric acid in an experiment, which resulted in an anesthetic. He provided the world with “keep sorcery out of medicine” which helped in differentiating real world with the spiritual world.
Cornelius Agrippa was one of the courageous person, who not only fought against the concept of an individual related to spirits but also saved lives of people, who were undergoing witch trials.
Johann Weyer, student of Agrippa also stood against these ill practices. He published his work in “The Deception of Demons” which clearly stated that people called as witch or bewitched were suffering from mental disorders.
He gave thorough refusal to the existing practices and referred the people witnessing it as heartless. All these explanations made him gain the title of witch and insane crusader.
Reginal Scot also stated people tagged as witch being humans suffering disorders. He published his work in “discovery of witchcraft”. With him Swiss psychiatrist, Felix Plater also stood against the practices by publishing his book “practice of medicine” stating different disorders related to brain, such as hypochondria, unusual dreams, mania, convulsions, foolishness, hallucination, drunkenness, mania, disturbance of sleep and delirium.
All the efforts of above mentioned people helped the world in providing a different aspect to the problems.