2008/07/01 by Andreas Marneros · 3 citations
Arts and Humanities · Psychology · Medicine · #Mental Health and Psychiatry #Psychiatric care and mental health services #Psychosomatic Disorders and Their Treatments
paper · pdf · doi:10.1192/bjp.bp.108.051367
openalex publication_date 2008/07/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/04
Professor Johann Christian Reil of Halle, Germany, first introduced the term 'psychiatry' in 1808. He argued that mental illness should be treated by physicians and that psychiatry required the very best medical practitioners. He stressed the important relationships between physical and mental factors in illness and the role of psychotherapy as one of the main treatment approaches in medicine. He was a strong advocate of humane treatment and reduction of stigma. Many of his ideas remain important today.