More than a disease: the history of general paralysis of the insane in Turkey.
This article explores the history of general paralysis of the insane (GPI) and its treatment in Turkey. GPI was considered as "a disease of civilization" at the end of the nineteenth century. From the early years of the twentieth century, Turkish psychiatrists discussed and interpreted the causes of GPI and followed the European diagnostic and treatment methods of the disease. Austrian psychiatrist Julius Wagner-Jauregg (1857-1940) introduced and developed "malaria fever therapy" for general paralysis in 1917. Malaria fever therapy spread to other countries and, during the 1920s, the treatment was also used in Turkey. This article not only aims to illuminate an unnoticed aspect of the history of psychiatry in Turkey but also uses GPI as a model to illustrate how psychiatry in Turkey was influenced by the developments in Europe.
a Department of Medical History and Ethics , Acibadem University School of Medicine , Istanbul , Turkey.
Fatih
F
Artvinli
D005260:Female; D049672:History, 19th Century; D049673:History, 20th Century; D006778:Hospitals, Psychiatric / Q000266:history; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009494:Neurosyphilis / Q000266:history*; D014421:Turkey
Toptaşı Asylum; Turkish psychiatry; general paralysis of the insane; malaria fever therapy