title: Illnesses of the will in 'pre-psychiatric' times.
abstract: Since its emergence as a medical discipline in its own right, i.e. since the end of the eighteenth century, disorders of the will have constituted a major area of interest for psychiatrists. But even before then, in 'pre-psychiatric' times so to speak, there were occasional descriptions of illnesses of the will or, in the nomenclature used at the time,'ambiguous emotional states of minds'.This study presents some very early attempts to tackle and explain the problems of amentia occulta, manie sons délire and monomania in German literature, concentrating on works written from a medical and philosophical perspective. Beginning with the differentiation between will and reason, this study explores some concepts in which the will was perceived as a possible cause of mental illness and thus became a topic of medical interest.
authors: Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University of Rostock, Gehlsheimer Strasse 20, 18147 Rostock, Germany. kathleen.haack@uni-rostock.de
authors: Kathleen
authors: K
authors: Haack
authors: Ekkehardt
authors: E
authors: Kumbier
authors: Sabine C
authors: SC
authors: Herpertz
mesh_terms: D005060:Europe; D049671:History, 18th Century; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000266:history*; D011570:Psychiatry / Q000266:history*; D009626:Terminology as Topic; D014836:Volition