Category:Alienism

Alienism is the study of madness. It is an applied science and a branch of medicine. The goal is successfully treatment patients suffering from madness in all is many guises. There are different schools of thought on the right method for the achievement of this end. The most ancient is surgical. Trepanning is a bronze age or even a Stone Age surgical procedure. Next there is the palliative. The earliest hospital accepting those surviving from madness are in the early medieval lands. The oneiroic, the conditional and analytic methodologies are all recent advances very last in the Renaissance period and are very far from enjoying wide-spread acceptance.

The various asylums of the Land of Mists pursue many different methodologies. These may be grouped roughly into the following categories:

Surgical--Claims malformation of the brain leads to psychological problems, which must be physically corrected. Includes trepanning, transorbital lobotomy and full lobotomy.

Palliative--Rather than push for a cure, simple institutionalization. Includes rest, removal from stimuli, and medication. Often a euphemism for neglect, but many asylums can do little more than this.

Oneirological--Pioneered by Dr. Gregorian Illhousen, this branch claims the secret to unraveling the psyche is within the subconscious, accessed via hypnosis and dreams.

Conditional--Founded in antiquity, championed by Dr. Harrod Tasker, this methodology views madness is mostly moral laxity; the cure is rigorous discipline and aversive stimuli to manage unwanted behavior.

Analytical--Pioneered by the Mousel Family, this is a talking/interviewing method that focuses on empowering the conscious mind.

Most alienists use a combination of these methods--in particular, analytical interviewing with hypnosis--depending upon preferences.