A Brief History of Psychiatry in Kashmir
Abstract
The history of psychiatry and the way mentally unwell people are treated is a litmus test to gauge the maturity, progress, and development of any culture or civilisation. Superstition and stigma have gone hand in hand when it comes to mental illness and its understanding. Psychiatry and how the services are delivered vary hugely around the world even in this day and age. With stress on dignity, human rights and choice of the mentally unwell in decision making in some developed countries to patients being locked up, chained, and neglected in many other parts of the world. As civilisations progressed so did the overall treatment of the mentally unwell. From prisons to mental asylums to locked hospitals, and to care in the community, the story evolves over centuries. This is true of the western nations and a similar path is replicated when we look at the less developed or developing countries.
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