The New Treatment of the Insane in Paris

In the autumn of 1793, Philippe Pinel celebrated his appointment as doctor to Paris' main poorhouse, the Hopital General, by ordering the release of lunatics from the chains in which they were traditionally kept. This act, commemorated authoritative Traite medico-philosophique sur l'alienation mentale (1801), with its pioneering emphasis on insanity as mental illness and with its advocacy of seeking cures through 'moral methods' of treatment that minimised physical coercion.