Throughout the Middle Ages, mysticism and religion continued to dominate medical understanding. During this period, sinning was considered to be the cause of mental illness. Throughout the 1900s, the Freudian and psychosomatic eras attempted to reunite mind and body, but this unity has yet to be fully socially and medically accepted. The brain is unarguably our most complex organ as it centrally mediates all life processes. All thoughts and feelings are biological processes that are products of interplay between genetics, neurochemical events, and life experiences.
Mental illness occurs when the brain becomes ill.
Recent scientific advances have allowed for a better understanding of the biological basis of mental processes. Metabolic brain scanning, for example, now affords us the ability to visualize levels of brain activity in states of illness and in response to treatments. Medical institutions are further recognizing the importance of mental disorders as medical problems that should be faced with equal weight. Important groups outside of the field of medical science have also been active in facilitating progress in the understanding and acceptance of mental illness. Senators Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici are leading political efforts to achieve parity for mental disorders.