In medicine, etiology is like detective work. It’s about determining why a condition or problem occurs. As detectives look for clues to solve a mystery, doctors and scientists examine genetics, lifestyle, and infections to determine why people get sick. The role of etiological theories is to explain why certain things happen in the body or in the mind.
Throughout history, there have always been references to mental illness starting with the stone age and continuing into the 21st century and beyond.
There have been three theories of the etiologic of mental illness:
Supernatural theories attribute mental illness to possession by evil or demonic spirits, displeasure of gods, eclipses, planetary gravitation, curses, and sin.
Somatogenic theories identify disturbances in physical functioning resulting from either illness, genetic inheritance, or brain damage or imbalance.
Psychogenic theories focus on traumatic or stressful experiences, maladaptive learned associations and cognitions, or distorted perceptions.
Mental illness is categorized according to a variety of etiological theories that determine how individuals with mental illness are treated and cared for.
The etiologic of possession involves supernatural or spiritual explanations, whereas the etiologic of somatogenic is a result of a physiological and biological disorder. In these historical perspectives, we observe the evolution of medical understanding from supernatural beliefs to scientifically based explanations. Depending on cultural beliefs, medical knowledge, and societal norms, conditions such as possession and organ dysfunction are treated differently. Exorcism or surgical.
Treatments for conditions in the past were influenced by cultural beliefs, religious practices, and limited medical knowledge and technology. Different societies and historical periods adopted different approaches.
While in the past, people thought strange behaviours were a result of spirits, we now know that most issues have a physical basis, such as organ dysfunction.
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