The Mad Man and his Doctor

Abstract

There weren't specialist physicians for mental diseases in Antiquity, but mad men were usually attended to by doctors from the time of Hippocrates to Late Antiquity. The therapies were generally physical (pharmaceutical and dietetic), but some schools of medicine (Asclepiades, Celsus, Caelius Aurelianus) took into consideration the psychological behaviour and experimented with a sort of relational therapy of madness.

Key words: Madness - Ancient medicine