Exploring Wellcome Collection: A Social History of Madness in Europe

What did it mean to suffer mental health problems in the past? How was madness understood and how were patients treated? Drawing on the rich holdings at the Wellcome Collection, both in the library and in the galleries, this module looks at the history of madness in Europe. It focuses on different ways of classifying and treating insanity, and on the difference that gender and class made to treatment and diagnosis. We will explore: madness in medieval and early modern Europe; 'moral treatment' in the eighteenth century; the asylum age; hysteria and neurasthenia; and degeneration and mental deficiency. This module also includes a special case study on alcoholism and madness.