Thomas Arnold (reformer)

Thomas Arnold (* 1742 in Leicester ; † September 2, 1816 there) was an English psychiatrist and reformer of the insane.

Life

Thomas Arnold was born in Leicester, studied in Edinburgh , where he was the pupil of William Cullen (1710–1790). Arnold was a member of the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal Medical Society of Edinburgh. In 1794 he opened the public psychiatric institution of the "Leicester Lunatic Asylum" after he had previously been the owner of the third largest private madhouse in Leicester. To this end, he had repeatedly pointed out to the public - also in newspaper articles - the actually national character of such institutions, which since 1774 saw themselves in the area of ​​corresponding legislation and thus also of public responsibility.

Services

Erwin H. Ackerknecht pays tribute to Arnold by presenting the books he has published as outstanding from the scope of the entire psychiatric movement in the 18th century; H. alongside works such as Battie , Perfect, and Harper . In particular, he tried to reclassify mental illnesses. Battie begins his first work that is representative of psychiatry with a definition of insanity, but does not list a single case study. In contrast, Arnold's book is abundant with case studies based on the author's own experience. - Klaus Dörner describes Arnold's psychiatric textbook, published in two volumes in 1782 and 1786, as the second specifically psychiatric work after Battie. Of course, it served not only purely scientific, but also the political objectives of the author after the institutionalization of private psychiatric facilities through the establishment of public institutions. That Arnold sought to influence public opinion goes, among other things. a. also from the sentence in English on the title page of his textbook, which contains a quote from Epictetus . Its translation is: “ People are not upset about things themselves, but about the opinions they have of them .” It was both beneficial for Thomas Arnold and his teacher William Cullen when Arnold's more scientific knowledge was put into practice implemented. Arnold combined the already existing earlier findings of English consultation psychiatry, as they had been disseminated by George Cheyne (1671–1743), for example through the term spleens , in order to draw the public's attention to the problem of the poor lunatic . In this way Arnold linked political economy with psychological (industrial and animal economy), the public (external) budget of English industrial society with internal social welfare.

The above-mentioned classification of mental illness is derived from the above-mentioned connection between madness and English whimsy and hysteria . The logical connection is u. a. produced by the principles of › moral insanity ‹, ›medical insanity‹, › pathetic insanity ‹ and ›appetitive insanity‹. Moral Insanity is seen as the common basis of everyone's own disposition to emotional and emotional fluctuations. Compliance with the moral norm lies in the healthy middle and in avoiding the extremes. Only the extreme cases also resulted in ›medical insanity‹, i.e. a necessity for medical action. The moral side of this point of view is presented, similar to before Arnold, by the general entrepreneurial spirit and the associated courage to take risks, which leads to wealth and luxury and thus also to the greatness of the English nation. The downside would be the poor lunatics by paying the bill.

The theme of passions , which for this epoch must almost be regarded as obligatory, is gaining in importance in this context. Already Zückert (1737-1778) had taken up the issue in 1768. This topic leads to the internalization of romantic experiences and thus to a psychological approach that is more detached from the physical sphere. Arnold not only emphasizes the affective character of insanity as a melancholic or manic variant in the now generally accepted sense of the ambivalence of affectivity , but also points to the point of view of habit ( chronification ) as a prerequisite for insanity in the sense of making passions independent. The ' moral insanity' is also included in this circle of passions . The subject of passions also seems appropriate to view the ›pathetic insanity‹ as the cause of the madness that goes hand in hand with love, superstition, avarice and despair. 'Appetetive Insanity' comes into consideration when there is compulsion to longing in love, which goes hand in hand with an only artificial modesty, when laws, religion and custom should prevent everyone from doing it. In short, needs are met here that are not adequate under the circumstances.

Socio-historical appreciation

Dörner puts the connection between moral insanity and the institutionalization of psychiatric facilities in a socio-historical context. The good taste that leads to terms such as moral insanity must be viewed as relative in terms of contemporary history and sociology. It describes a new phase in the development of occidental sensitivity, which leads away from rationalism to sensitivity and thus also to disease phenomena. This change is judged even more clearly by Erich Neumann when he speaks of the "invasion of the dark".

Works

• Observations on the Nature, Kinds, Causes, and Prevention of Insanity, Lunacy, or Madness . London / Leicester 1782, 1786. (German: observations on nature. Types, causes and prevention of madness or madness. Leipzig 1784)
• A case of Hydrophobia successfully treated . 1793.
• Observations on the Management of the Insane . 1809.

literature

• George Vere Benson:  Arnold, Thomas (1742-1816) . In: Leslie Stephen (Ed.): Dictionary of National Biography . Volume 2:  Annesley - Baird. , MacMillan & Co, Smith, Elder & Co., New York City / London 1885, p. 113 (English).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} George Vere Benson:  Arnold, Thomas (1742-1816) . In: Leslie Stephen (Ed.): Dictionary of National Biography . Volume 2:  Annesley - Baird. , MacMillan & Co, Smith, Elder & Co., New York City / London 1885, p. 113 (English).
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e f} Klaus Dörner : Citizens and Irre. On the social history and sociology of science in psychiatry. Fischer paperback, books of knowledge, Frankfurt am Main 1975, ISBN 3-436-02101-6 ; (a + b) to district “Establishment of Establishment”, p. 65 f .; (c) Re. “Economic problems of the 'poor lunatics' as public questions”, p. 65; (d) re. “Systematics”, p. 68; (e) on taxation “Passions”, p. 68 ff .; (f) on Stw. “Passions and Moral Insanity as an Expression of An Aesthetic Change”, p. 76 f.
3. ↑ ^{a b} Erwin H. Ackerknecht : Brief history of psychiatry. 3. Edition. Enke, Stuttgart 1985, ISBN 3-432-80043-6 ; (a) to Stw. “Arnold's textbook as a milestone in psychiatric development”, p. 38 f .; (b) Re. “Comparison with Battie's textbook”, p. 40.
4. ^ Th. Arnold: Observations on Nature ...
5. ↑ English version of the Epictetus word: “Men are not disturbed by things themselves; but by the opinions which they form concerning them. "
6. ^ Arnold Hauser : Social history of art and literature . Volume II, Munich 1953, p. 75 f.
7. ↑ Erich Neumann : Depth Psychology and New Ethics . (= Mind and psyche). Fischer-Taschenbuch-Verlag 1985, ISBN 3-596-42005-9 , p. 76 f.