ABSTRACT
Philippe Pinel was a French physician who developed the concept of ‘moral therapy’ that led to significant change in the treatment and care of those with mental illness. Many of his ideas on this topic were shaped by his time working in the Bicetre asylum, before he became a professor of medical pathology. He was a pioneer of the medical case study, spending many hours observing his patients and writing up their histories. Rather than viewing mental illness as a permanent condition, Pinel emphasised that there were degrees of illness, as well as classifications, and that these shaped rationalities in various ways. His book was structured across these classifications and their treatments, notably dividing mental illness into melancholy, mania, dementia and idiotism. Treatment for many types of mental illness, especially under the category melancholy, focused on forms of emotional management, often through encouraging individuals to emote in ‘healthier’ ways, such as directing their feelings to love for a family.
