![]() It was an act without reason or logic 18. In English, it originally meant a ‘frenzied attack,’ which implied killing until no enemies remained. The word originally meant ‘bear shirt,’ something that the Old Norse warrior wore. Until the late 18th century, it was synonymous with “confused.” During the late 18th century however, it came to mean ‘false impression,’ which evolved into ‘false perception’ 17.ĮARLY 19TH CENTURY Berserk was borrowed from Old Norse. Previously, it had been understood to mean not only sadness but also general insanity 19.ġ8TH CENTURY Hallucinate has Latin and Greek roots meaning to ‘wander in mind’ and therefore referred to a state of mental confusion. It was only related to clinical depression in the 17th century. It was not long before it encompassed temporary or transient lack of reason as we understand it today 18.ġ7TH CENTURY Melancholy originates from the humors theory and meant ‘black bile,’ which in excess was thought to cause depression, and violent anger. LATE 16TH CENTURY Delirium comes from Latin where it meant ‘to go out of the furrow’ and was synonymous with madness. It soon developed to mean troubled by an evil spirit, which later came to mean a destructive “fixed idea” 19. By the early 19th century, it became a synonym of insanity 17.ģ8 The picture shows a man being forcefully removed by two other men while pointing a finger at a fourth man saying "I'm not the lunatic, that is the lunatic." Obsession originates from Latin and was used to refer to a siege in the early 16th century. Although it is similar to madness, it originally meant cyclical insanity rather than chronic insanity. The moon was believed to lead to mental instability in ancient Rome. It was derived from the Roman moon goddess luna. Lunatic was commonly used from the 16th to the 18th centuries in England. Doctors stopped using insane as a clinical term in the early 20th century but it is still used in law today to mean irrational more broadly 17. In the early 16th century, it began to be applied to mental confusions due to false beliefs 18.ĮARLY 16TH CENTURY Insane originally referred to an unhealthy body or mind but was mostly used to refer to the mind. ![]() ![]() These creatures were adapted by the Romans, who renamed them as Furiae from the word furere which means ‘to rage or storm.’ Although today the word means intense anger, to be furious was to be insane from the 15th century to the 1800 17.ĮARLY 15TH CENTURY Delusion originates from Latin and originally meant deception or befooling. The myth was about three female creatures called the Erinyes,which pursued those who had commited unavenged crimes until they became mad. Over time, the word became applied to states of confusion and enthusiasm as we understand it today 18.įury was adapted into English from Old French (800 – 1550) but was originally from Greek mythology. It was not until the late 17th century – early 18th century that the word became used to describe a person’s mental state. In other words, it was a word used to describe an aging body. When it later became adapted to describe the body, it was a description of the physical state rather than the mental state. MIDDLE ENGLISH PERIOD (1100 – 1500) Crazy originates from Scandinavia and meant ‘cracked.’ It later evolved to mean ‘broken’ and was used to describe unreliable containers and vessels in the 16th century. 37 A painting of the three women, collectively known as the Erinyes in Greek mythology, surrounding a man who is covering his ears and is trying to escape.Erinyes point to a woman with a knife in her chest, the victim of the unavenged crime that the man committed, while looking at the man with very aggressive and frightening expressions.
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