The first psychiatric hospital was founded in Baghdad in 792 AD, subsequently other hospitals arose in Damascus and Aleppo. In these hospitals (or rather asylums) people with mental disorders were isolated from the general population and treated. At that time, many of the people classified as mentally ill suffered from hysteria, epilepsy, manic reactions, and melancholy. During the Middle Ages in Europe, scientific research into abnormal behavior was limited, and the treatment of disturbed individuals was based more on rituals and superstitions rather than actual understanding of the individual's condition. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay During the last half of the Middle Ages in Europe, a trend emerged in efforts to understand abnormal behavior involving behavior called mass madness. Mass madness was a widespread phenomenon of group behavior believed to be caused by hysteria. Groups of people were struck by dancing mania. Rural areas were hit by epidemics of lycanthropy, a condition in which people believed they were possessed by wolves and began imitating their behaviors. Undoubtedly, many of the peculiar cases of mass madness were linked to the depression, fear and wild mysticism generated by the terrible events of this period. People simply could not believe that frightening catastrophes like the Black Death could have natural causes and therefore be within their power to control, prevent, or even create. In the Middle Ages in Europe, the management of people with mental disorders was largely left to the clergy. The monasteries served as refuges and places of confinement. During the early medieval period, people with mental disorders were generally treated kindly. Priests used holy water, sanctified ointments, touched relics, visited holy places, and performed exorcisms to cure patients. Such treatment might mean engaging in seemingly bizarre ritual-type practices. One example was a priest preparing a drink made from lupine, bishop's weed, henbane, and garlic. He pounded them together, added beer and holy water, then made the sufferers drink it. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper now from our expert writers. Get a Custom Essay Exorcisms are another bizarre example of the typical monastic treatment of the mentally disturbed in the Middle Ages. An exorcism can be defined as the expulsion of demons or other evil spirits that are believed to have taken possession of a person, place or object. Some exorcists attempted to identify demons by their names and find out how many demons were involved. The exorcists needed to know whether the demon would leave on its own or whether it would be necessary to force it to leave the body. Many people believed that performing an exorcism had a beneficial psychosomatic effect but in some cases it was the opposite.