How were mentally ill persons dealt with before the time of Freud?
Before the period of Freud, the history of treatment or dealing with the mental illness is both depressing and fascinating. According to Babylonians, possession of the body by demons was responsible for the mental illness. This illness was treated with compassion, prayer and magic by the Babylonians.
According to the primeval Hebrew cultures, a penalty for a sin was given in the form of the mental illness. Hence, superstitious people relied entirely upon magic and prayer to cure the illness. On the establishment of Christianity, again the evil spirits were blamed for the cause of mental illness. For about thousands of years, execution and torture prevailed as the method of treatment.
People were treated through exorcism. At the beginning of the 15th century, the witchcraft and blasphemy was performed relentlessly, recognizing the symptoms related to mental disorders. For this, punishment was considered to be the only cure. At the beginning of eighteenth century, mental illness was regarded as nonsensical behavior. The mentally challenged persons were restricted to the places that were similar to jails.
Although, such individuals were not put to death or were tortured at that time, no remedy for their ailment was offered. Sometimes such individuals were exhibited like animals in the zoos, publically. For many years, some were tethered to their beds. The legs and the rams of a few were fastened to the iron bars. Some others had iron bands frozen around their neck. Such prisons were known as the lunatic asylums.