The roots of contemporary theories and models of mental health disorders, developmental problems, and their assessment and treatment are found in antiquity. The general progression is from the earliest mythological framework, through a gradual demystification within early philosophy and medicine, toward the emergence and evolution of scientific approaches, culminating in the establishment of the specialized fields that concern themselves primarily with abnormal mental conditions: psychiatry, and clinical and abnormal psychology. It was only with the ascent and further evolution of these three mental health disciplines that systematic study of the clinically significant mental conditions could take place.

Prehistory and Ancient Civilizations

Efforts to understand and resolve problems of the mind can be traced back through many thousands of years. The origins of interest in the working ...

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