William Battie
Encyclopedia
William Battie 1 September 1703–13 June 1776, was an English
physician
who published in 1758 the first lengthy book on the treatment of mental illness
, A Treatise on Madness, and by extending methods of treatment to the poor as well as the affluent, helped raise psychiatry
to a respectable specialty. He was President of the Royal College of Physicians in 1764.
, Devon. He studied at Eton
and King's College, Cambridge
. Being unable to afford a legal training he "diverted his attention to physic" and practised for a short time in Cambridge
. After practising for many years in the field of psychiatry in London
, he acquired two private "madhouses" near St. Luke's
, from which he gained a handsome income. His appointment as physician at St. Luke's gave him a firm base upon which to consolidate his reputation.
He was elected in January, 1742 a Fellow of the Royal Society.
He was, in 1764, the first and only psychiatrist to become President of the Royal College of Physicians
He died following a stroke in 1776 and was buried alongside his wife in Kingston, Surrey.
, that insanity could result from the wrong joining together of ideas rather than simply uncontrolled and disturbed animal passions. However his main theme was that mental disorder originated from dysfunction of the material brain and body rather than the internal workings of the mind and he proposed somatic
treatments in keeping with his times, which he classified as involving either "depletion", "revulsion", "removal" or "expulsion". It was not until the York Retreat in 1796 that a radically more humane psychosocial approach was implemented in England.
Battie's treatise elicited a response from John Monro
, the physician to Bethlem Hospital, who saw it as an attack on his father, who had preceded him, and himself. This response has been described as narrow and reactionary, but it has also been called the first debate in psychiatry.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
physician
Physician
A physician is a health care provider who practices the profession of medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring human health through the study, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, injury and other physical and mental impairments...
who published in 1758 the first lengthy book on the treatment of mental illness
Mental illness
A mental disorder or mental illness is a psychological or behavioral pattern generally associated with subjective distress or disability that occurs in an individual, and which is not a part of normal development or culture. Such a disorder may consist of a combination of affective, behavioural,...
, A Treatise on Madness, and by extending methods of treatment to the poor as well as the affluent, helped raise psychiatry
Psychiatry
Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the study and treatment of mental disorders. These mental disorders include various affective, behavioural, cognitive and perceptual abnormalities...
to a respectable specialty. He was President of the Royal College of Physicians in 1764.
Biography
He was born in 1704, the son of a vicar, Reverend Edward Battie, in ModburyModbury
Modbury is a town and parish in the South Hams region of the English county of Devon. It is situated on the A379 road, which links it to Plymouth and Kingsbridge...
, Devon. He studied at Eton
Eton College
Eton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent school for boys aged 13 to 18. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
and King's College, Cambridge
King's College, Cambridge
King's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England. The college's full name is "The King's College of our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge", but it is usually referred to simply as "King's" within the University....
. Being unable to afford a legal training he "diverted his attention to physic" and practised for a short time in Cambridge
Cambridge
The city of Cambridge is a university town and the administrative centre of the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It lies in East Anglia about north of London. Cambridge is at the heart of the high-technology centre known as Silicon Fen – a play on Silicon Valley and the fens surrounding the...
. After practising for many years in the field of psychiatry in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, he acquired two private "madhouses" near St. Luke's
St. Luke's
St. Luke's may refer to:*St Luke's, a district of London, UK*St. Luke's Health Network, a hospital/health network in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA*St Luke's railway station, Southport, Merseyside, UK...
, from which he gained a handsome income. His appointment as physician at St. Luke's gave him a firm base upon which to consolidate his reputation.
He was elected in January, 1742 a Fellow of the Royal Society.
He was, in 1764, the first and only psychiatrist to become President of the Royal College of Physicians
Royal College of Physicians
The Royal College of Physicians of London was founded in 1518 as the College of Physicians by royal charter of King Henry VIII in 1518 - the first medical institution in England to receive a royal charter...
He died following a stroke in 1776 and was buried alongside his wife in Kingston, Surrey.
Psychiatric work
Shortly after commencing at St Luke's, Battie restarted discussion on the management of mental disorder in his Treatise on Madness (1758). It was in large part a critique aimed particularly at the Bethlem Hospital, where a conservative regime continued to use routinely coercive and barbaric custodial treatment, with crowded cells and jeering visitors. Battie instead argued for a tailored management of patients entailing cleanliness, good food, fresh air, and distraction from friends and family. He offered some arguments, based on the work of LockeJohn Locke
John Locke FRS , widely known as the Father of Liberalism, was an English philosopher and physician regarded as one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers. Considered one of the first of the British empiricists, following the tradition of Francis Bacon, he is equally important to social...
, that insanity could result from the wrong joining together of ideas rather than simply uncontrolled and disturbed animal passions. However his main theme was that mental disorder originated from dysfunction of the material brain and body rather than the internal workings of the mind and he proposed somatic
Somatic
The term somatic means 'of the body',, relating to the body. In medicine, somatic illness is bodily, not mental, illness. The term is often used in biology to refer to the cells of the body in contrast to the germ line cells which usually give rise to the gametes...
treatments in keeping with his times, which he classified as involving either "depletion", "revulsion", "removal" or "expulsion". It was not until the York Retreat in 1796 that a radically more humane psychosocial approach was implemented in England.
Battie's treatise elicited a response from John Monro
John Monro (physician)
John Monro was a physician and specialist in insanity who was the physician at the primary English mental hospital Bethlem Hospital, better known as Bedlam.-Family:...
, the physician to Bethlem Hospital, who saw it as an attack on his father, who had preceded him, and himself. This response has been described as narrow and reactionary, but it has also been called the first debate in psychiatry.