2),40 modeled along the principles used at the York Retreat. Chief among those who spearheaded introduction of the moral treatment movement in the United States were Benjamin Rush, Dorothea Lynde Dix, Thomas Scattergood, and Thomas Story Kirkbride.

1. It was widely recognised that moral therapy worked best when the number of patients in an institution was 200 or fewer, allowing for a great deal of individual attention.

In the late 1700s, a French physician, Philippe Pinel, argued for more humane treatment of the mentally ill.

Moral treatment was a product of the Enlightenment of the late eighteenth century. Before then people with psychiatric conditions, referred to as the insane, were usually treated in inhumane and brutal ways.

A therapeutic and preventive philosophy for managing mental disorders, which was popular in the early 19th century, based on William Tuke’s retreat model.

While diagnoses were recognized as far back as the Greeks, it was not until 1883 that German psychiatrist Emil Kräpelin (1856–1926) published a comprehensive system of psychological disorders that centered around a pattern of symptoms (i.e., syndrome) suggestive of an underlying physiological cause.

Treatments for mental disorder were quite diverse. Some were theoretically based: bloodletting, baths, head surgery, or a diet change to rid oneself of noxious humors: sexual diversion to aid the lovesick: exorcism and Holy Communion to aid the possessed.

It fell into decline as a distinct method by the 20th century, however, due to overcrowding and misuse of asylums and the predominance of biomedical methods. The movement is widely seen as influencing certain areas of psychiatric practice up to the present day.

Moral management refers to a state of ethical excellence and the practice and the implementation of the moral maximization principle (Sikula, 1989). Ethics and morals involve pure, righteous, honorable, and virtuous behavior.

“Moral treatment” was the predominating philosophy to cure the insane. This system was developed in late 18th century Europe, and by Benjamin Rush in the United States.

Philippe Pinel and Dorothea Dix argued for more humane treatment of people with psychological disorders. In the mid-1960s, the deinstitutionalization movement gained support and asylums were closed, enabling people with mental illness to return home and receive treatment in their own communities.

Isolation and Asylums Overcrowding and poor sanitation were serious issues in asylums, which led to movements to improve care quality and awareness. At the time, the medical community often treated mental illness with physical methods. This is why brutal tactics like ice water baths and restraint were often used.

Diagnostic classification systems have been constructed to help clinicians make diagnoses. The most commonly used classification system in the United States is the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 4th edition (1994, generally referred to as DSM-IV).

The International Classification of Mental Disorders is the most widely used system of medical classification throughout the world.

Two major diagnostic manuals—the International Classification of Diseases and the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders—provide classification systems relevant to public health, clinical diagnosis, service provision, and specific research applications, the former internationally and the latter primarily …

DSM consists of three major components: the diagnostic classification, the diagnostic criteria sets, and the descriptive text. The diagnostic classification is the official list of mental disorders recognized in DSM.