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Ancient treatments - These doctors & psychiatrists came up with the weirdest options for therapy. Let's take a look at real treatments used in the past.


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Voiceover by Carl Mason: carlito1705@icloud.com


Number 8 Removal
In the early 20th century, Cotton was the medical director in the New Jersey State. He became convinced that these conditions were caused by untreated health problems. He reported false cure rates of 85% and was celebrated as a medical pioneer in a historical context that lauded such research. His work was described as brilliant and as providing high hopes for the future.
Number 7 Female Hysteria
Inspired by the teachings of Hippocrates, Plato once compared it to a living creature that wandered throughout the female body. Time passed and female hysteria would eventually be used to diagnose most types of it that a woman might have exhibited.
Number 6 Utica Crib
Amariah Brigham, the first director of the New York State at Utica, disliked the popular practice at the time of restraining patients using chains, so he created a contraption that would be known as the Utica Crib. It basically consisted of a regular bed with slatted sides and a hinged lid that could be locked from the outside. There was barely enough room for patients to turn over. Patients were placed inside to calm down and the key was held by an attendant.
Number 5 Insulin Therapy
Introduced by Austrian-American psychiatrist Manfred Sakel in 1927, insulin therapy, also known as ICT. The procedure was developed after Sakel experimented with low doses of insulin. Either before or during it, patients would sometimes experience seizures. Sakel and other psychiatrists boasted an 80% success rate for insulin therapy but the procedure had plenty of critics. One of them argued that it made psychiatrists ‘feel like real doctors instead of just institutional attendants’.
Number 4 Hydrotherapy
There are various forms of hydrotherapy being applied nowadays, that involve the use of water jets, underwater massages, ice baths or mineral baths, all of which may be effective in the treatment of various conditions.
Number 3 Trepanation
Fortunately, science has progressed far enough so that procedures like trepanation no longer take place. Trepanation basically involved the use of an instrument to drill holes. It’s among the oldest procedures to be supported by archeological evidence. Trepanation dates back to the Neolithic period, around 7,000 years ago and there are cave paintings depicting its alleged efficiency. It was believed that, when a person acted strangely, there were things in their heads.
Number 2 Lobotomy
In 1949 Portuguese physician Antonio Egas Moniz was awarded a Nobel Prize for the development of the modern lobotomy. He believed that certain conditions could be cured by severing connections in the brain’s prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain that’s just behind the forehead. Moniz was inspired to adapt the procedure to patients after he’d observed it being done to chimpanzees. Prior to having their frontal lobes removed, the animals were reportedly displaying bad behavior. He then began working with an instrument called a leucotome which was inserted through holes. Moniz reported his lobotomies as successful treatments and physicians from countries like Romania, Cuba, Italy and the US began experimenting with the procedure. American neuropsychiatrist Walter Freeman, who referred to lobotomy results as a ‘surgically induced childhood’ took a step further by developing the transorbital lobotomy. He invented an instrument called an orbitoclast, which was essentially an icepick.
Number 1 Bergonic Chair
Electroconvulsive therapy, or ECT, is still regarded as a last resort. In the procedure, a patient is hooked up to electrodes that carry electric current. It’s the only form of therapy currently used in psychiatry. The idea that by inducing seizures medical practitioners would be able to treat it. It has been circulating since the 16th century. However, in its early days, this type of therapy was not necessarily good treatment.

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