The ancients may have been off the.mark as to specific causes, but their non pejorative view of mental suffering and their search for medical causes were right on track. The most apparently ill were chained to walls in institutions such as the infamous Bedlam, where the rest of society could forget they existed. In our Supposedly more humane era, we have freed the mentally ill from institutions and, instead of providing Continuing care, have left them to fend for themselves. The stigma of illness of the mind is all-pervasive. If we or members of our families experience menial illness, the shame may prevent us from seeking available help or even from following the doctor's advice.
Physicians often fail at effecting a cure because patients resist taking the prescribed medication.