![]() Since I could find searchable pdfs for most texts (using the Internet Archive and the HathiTrust Digital Library ), I also searched for other relevant discussions. Most of the textbooks had a section on “causes of insanity,” all of which contained a discussion on heredity. Our end date precedes by a year publications from Rüdin in Germany ( 3) and Rosanoff in the United States ( 4), which mark a new phase in the history of psychiatric genetics with the systematic application of Mendel’s laws. Our opening date marks the publication of Cullen’s major medical nosology ( 2), a good starting point for “modern” psychiatry. I began by reviewing available psychiatric textbooks from 1780 to 1910 originally in or translated into English or French. Having been unable to find a good introduction to this literature for modern audiences (but see Porter ), I decided to write one. In fact, psychiatric genetics has a long and rich history, having been a subject of interest from the beginning of modern psychiatry in the late 18th century. Our presentism is reinforced by the widespread belief that “real” genetics only began with the rediscovery of Mendel’s laws in 1900. Current work in psychiatric genetics rarely considers work done more than a decade ago. However, we have a foreshortened historical framework within which to interpret these advances. Psychiatric genetics has, in recent years, been a key discipline driving scientific progress in psychiatry. Rather than entirely rejecting its value, we might view this literature as a complementary resource, likely more biased, but suffused with the extensive clinical knowledge of our forebears. Many of these conclusions, arising solely from clinical experience and without an understanding of biological mechanisms, statistical analyses, or necessary controls, are supported by later, more rigorous methods. Finally, inheritance was commonly understood to include prior environmental parental experiences, and some authors noted that parent-offspring transmission of insanity could arise from psychological or intrauterine effects. Fifth, writers noted that odd and eccentric personality features were common in the relatives of their insane patients. Homogeneous transmission (“like begets like”) was the exception. Heterogeneous transmission was usually seen as the rule-with relatives of insane patients affected with a wide variety of psychiatric, and sometimes neurological, illnesses. Fourth, authors discussed the homogeneity versus heterogeneity of familial transmission of the various forms of insanities. Third, the probabilistic nature of the transmission was noted, as insanity often skipped generations or affected only a few of many siblings. ![]() ![]() ![]() Second, most writers concluded that a predisposition to illness rather than the illness itself was transmitted in families. First, most authors viewed heredity as among the strongest risk factors for insanity. To provide such a perspective, the author reviews 48 representative texts, published from 1780 to 1910, examining the inheritance of insanity. While psychiatric genetics has emerged as one of our most dynamic research fields, the historical context in which we view these developments is limited.
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