Good observation @lemouth :)

Mental disorders were observed for so long that it sounds weird that no one ever thought about documenting them in the first place before the 20th century.

This is mostly because psychological disorders were all lumped together and explained as a result of "an over-active brain". This is why treatments like bloodletting, waterboarding and more recently ICT and ECT were developed in order to "slow down" brain activities (through inducing patients into a coma). Nevertheless, diagnostic classifications were already taking place in Germany in the late 1800's (I don't remember which year exactly). Emil Kraepelin was in charge of that. He was the first to come forward and suggest that mental distress are of distinct prognosis and consequently are manifested differently from patient to patient.

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Thank you for asking the following questions @lemouth.

can we really treat those patients? * Therefore, there should not be really any cure, shouldn’t it?

Yes. With the exception of psychopathy (which can still be addressed via therapy). Both psychological and psychiatric conditions can be treated. The more severe ones (e.g. the psychoses and bipolar disorder) can be treated with psychotropic medication and therapy. You can think of someone who lives with such conditions as person, for example, who lives with a heart condition and needs to be very diligent with their meds and healthy routine in order to function well in life.

As for the less severe ones (mild depression and specific fears) not only can they be treated, but also completely cured through therapy only. There is a huge body of evidence demonstrating the efficiency of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy in both bringing these disorders (and a few others) to a halt, and preventing relapses.

Thank you for stopping by once again & taking the time to meaningfully interact with my work here! I appreciate it very much.

Happy weekend for you & the family 😊