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The History of General Hospital Psychiatry

1989; Cambridge University Press; Volume: 155; Issue: 6 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1192/bjp.155.6.764

1472-1465

Richard Mayou,

Neurology and Historical Studies

General hospital psychiatry in Britain began in 1728, and thereafter several new voluntary hospitals provided separate wards for lunatics, but none survived beyond the middle of the 19th century. Less severe nervous organic disorder has always been common in the general wards of voluntary hospitals, and was accepted as the responsibility of neurologists and other physicians; all forms of disorder were admitted to the infirmaries of workhouses. During the present century psychiatrists began to take an interest in non-certifiable mental illnesses and in working in general hospitals. Out-patient clinics became more common following the Mental Treatment Act 1930. The growth of general hospital psychiatric units in the last 30 years began amidst controversy, but has received little recent critical attention.