Bénédict Morel
| Bénédict Morel | |
|---|---|
.gif) Bénédict Morel |
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| Born | 22 November 1809 Vienna, Austria |
| Died | 30 March 1873 |
| Nationality | France |
| Fields | psychiatry |
| Influences | Jean-Pierre Falret |
Bénédict Augustin Morel (22 November 1809 – 30 March 1873), was a French physician born in Vienna, Austria. He was an influential figure in the field of psychiatry during the mid-19th century.
He received his education in Paris, and while a student, supplemented his income by teaching English and German classes. In 1839 he earned his medical doctorate, and two years later became an assistant to psychiatrist Jean-Pierre Falret (1794–1870) at the Salpêtrière in Paris.
Morel's interest in psychiatry was further enhanced in the mid-1840s when he visited several mental institutions throughout Europe. In 1848 he was appointed director of the Asile d'Aliénés de Maréville at Nancy. Here he introduced reforms concerning the welfare of the mentally ill, in particular liberalization of restraining practices. At the Maréville asylum he studied the mentally handicapped, researching their family histories and investigating aspects such as poverty and childhood physical illnesses. In 1856 he was appointed director of the mental asylum at Saint-Yon in Rouen.
Morel, influenced by various pre-Darwinian theories of evolution—particularly those that attributed a powerful role to acclimation—saw mental deficiency as the end stage of a process of mental deterioration. In the 1850s, Morel developed a theory of "degeneration" regarding mental problems that take place from early life to adulthood. In 1857 he published Traité des dégénérescences physiques, intellectuelles et morales de l'espèce humaine et des causes qui produisent ces variétés maladives, in which he explains the nature, causes, and indications of human degeneration. Morel looked for answers to mental illness in heredity, although later on he believed that alcohol and drug usage could also be important factors in the course of mental decline.
Morel coined the term démence precoce (Latin- dementia praecox) in 1860, to describe what he thought was a mental disorder that initially struck males when they were teens or young adults, and eventually led to deterioration of mental functioning and disability. Later, it became apparent that démence precoce didn't necessarily lead to mental deterioration, nor did it affect only youth—and in 1908 Swiss psychologist Eugen Bleuler coined the term "schizophrenia" as a more accurate definition of the disorder.[1]
[edit] Partial bibliography
- Traité des maladies mentales. 2 volumes; Paris, 1852–1853; 2nd edition, 1860. (In the 2nd edition he coined the term démence-precoce to refer to mental degeneration.)
- Le no-restraint ou de l’abolition des moyens coercitifs dans le traitement de la folie. Paris, 1861
- Du goître et du crétinisme, étiologie, prophylaxie etc. Paris, 1864
- De la formation des types dans les variétés dégénérées. Volume 1; Rouen, 1864
[edit] References
- Mahieu, Eduardo Luis (2004). "On Morel and dementia praecox". Vertex (Buenos Aires, Argentina) (Argentina) 15 (55): 73–5. PMID 15085229.
- Conti, Norberto Aldo (2003). "Benedict Augustin Morel and the origin of the term dementia praecox". Vertex (Buenos Aires, Argentina) (Argentina) 14 (53): 227–31. PMID 14569313.
- Lund, M (December 1996). "On Morel's 'épilepsie larvée: the first Danish epileptologist Frederik Hallager's opposition in 1884 against Morel's psychical epileptic equivalents". Journal of the history of the neurosciences (Netherlands) 5 (3): 241–53. doi:10.1080/09647049609525673. ISSN 0964-704X. PMID 11618744. http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/content~db=all~content=a915205221~frm=titlelink.
