NCM_117 Psychiatric Nursing Lecture 2nd Semester 2023-2024 by Alicia D. Barte

Psychiatric Nursing and Psychiatry

• Psychiatry is a branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of mental illnesses.
• Psychiatric nursing is a specialized area of nursing practice that employs theories of human behavior, using the purposeful use of self as an art in the diagnosis and response to actual or potential mental health problems.

Historical Background of Psychiatry

• Primitive beliefs regarding mental illness involved the idea that an individual had been dispossessed of their soul or was possessed by evil spirits or supernatural powers.
• Pythagoras (BC) developed the concept that the brain is the seat of intellectual activity.
• Hippocrates (BC) described mental illness as hysteria, mania, and depression.
• Plato (BC) identified the relationship between mind and body.
• Asclepiades, referred to as the father of psychiatry, used simple hygienic measures, diet, bath, and massage in place of mechanical restraints.
• Aristotle, a Greek philosopher, emphasized the release of repressed emotions for the effective treatment of mental illness.
• During the Renaissance in Europe (AD), demons were believed to be the cause of hallucinations, delusions, and sexual activity, and treatment involved torture and even death.

Important Milestones in Psychiatry

• 1773: The first mental hospital in the US was built in Williamsburg, Virginia.
• 1793: Philip Pinel removed the chains from mentally ill patients.
• 1812: Clifford Beers, an ex-patient of a mental hospital, wrote the book "The Mind That Found Itself" based on his bitter experiences in the hospital.
• 1912: Eugene Bleuler, a Swiss psychiatrist, coined the term "Schizophrenia".
• 1927: Insulin shock treatment was introduced for schizophrenia.
• 1936: Frontal lobotomy was advocated for the management of psychiatric disorders.
• 1938: Electro Convulsive Therapy (ECT) was used for the treatment of psychoses.
• 1939: The development of psychoanalytical theory by Sigmund Freud led to new concepts in the treatment of mental illness.
• 1949: Lithium was first used for the treatment of mania.
• 1952: Chlorpromazine was introduced, bringing about a revolution in psycho-pharmacology.

Development of Psychiatric Nursing

• 1872: The first training school for nurses based on the Nightingale system was established by the New England Hospital for women and children.
• 1882: The first school to prepare nurses to care for the mentally ill was opened at McLean Hospital in Waverly.
• 1943: A Psy.Nsg course was started for male nurses.
• 1946: The Health survey committee's report recommended preparation of nursing personnel in Psy.Nsg.
• 1952: Dr. Hildegard Peplau defined the therapeutic roles that nurses might play in the mental health setting.
• 1953: Maxwell Jones introduced the therapeutic community.
• 1956: A one-year post-certificate course in psychiatric nursing was started at Bangalore.
• 1960: The Journal of Psy.Nsg and Mental Health services was published.
• 1964: The Mudaliar committee felt the need for preparing large numbers of Psy.Nurses and recommended inclusion of Psychiatry in the nursing curriculum.
• 1965: Psy.Nsg was offered as an elective subject in M.Sc.Nursing at the RAK College of Nsg, New Delhi.
• 1980: Scientific advances in the area of psychobiology, brain imaging techniques, knowledge about neurotransmitters and neuronal receptors, and molecular genetics related to psychiatry emerged.
• 1986: The Indian Nursing Council made psy.nsg a component of the General nursing and Midwifery course.
• 1990: Psychiatric nursing deals with the promotion of mental health, prevention of mental illness, care and rehabilitation of mentally ill individuals both in hospital and community.