Psikiyatride Güncel Yaklaşımlar (Sep 2022)
Evaluation of the Movie “The Professor and the Madman” in the Framework of the History of Psychiatry and Psychiatric Treatments
Abstract
In prehistoric times, people thought that mental illnesses were caused by supernatural forces. For this reason, it is long overdue to accept the view that mental illnesses are diseases that need to be “treated” in the historical process. During these periods, when scientific approaches were not developed, those with mental disorders were branded with adjectives such as “guilty”, “sinful”, “mad”. Basing the approach to these patients on scientific foundations was not possible before the middle of the nineteenth century. In contrast to the negative approaches to those with mental disorders in the past, it is seen that issues such as psychiatric education, patient-therapist communication, psychosocial initiatives are becoming important today and motion pictures are one of the tools that can be used in the context of embodying these issues. It is thought that examining the practices in the field of psychiatry in the past, as embodied in the movies, will be beneficial in terms of seeing the difference between the past and the present in terms of training to be given to mental health professionals and informing the society about attitudes towards individuals with mental disorders. As a matter of fact, ignorance of unsuccessful approaches and practices in the past may cause similar failures to be experienced again. In this context, in this review, in which the approaches and practices in the field of psychiatry in the past are presented as they are embodied in the film, it is aimed to examine the movie "The Professor and The Madman" in the light of literature information in terms of the history of psychiatry and psychiatric treatments. In this way, it is thought that today's psychiatric practices and opinions can be developed more in favor of individuals with mental disorders. In this respect, it is suggested that the film be recommended to health professionals in the field of mental health and students studying in this field.
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