MENTAL HEALTH

AND PSYCHIATRIC NURSING

Chronology in the Development of Psychiatry and Psychiatric Nursing

Significant
Person/Organization/ Year Details
Events

Emil Kreapelin 1856-1929 Differentiated manic-depressive psychosis from

schizophrenia and stated that schizophrenia was
incurable.

Eugene Bleuler 1857-1939 Described the psychotic disorder Schizophrenia

(formerly: dementia praecox) Developed Blueler’s
4As: Affective Disturbance, Associative Looseness,
Auditory Hallucination, Autism

Alfred Adler 1870-1937 Focused on the area of psychosomatic medicine,

referring to organ inferiority as the causative
factor

Carl Jung 1875- 1961 Described the human psyche as consisting of a

social mask (persona) hidden personal
characteristics (shadow) feminine identification in
men (anima), masculine identification in women
 (animus), and the innermost center of the
personality (self).

World War 2 Veterans 1940-1945 Received financial support and vocational

rehabilitation for psychiatric and physical
disabilities

World Federation of 1946-1971 Care of mentally ill persons was brought into the
Mental Health mainstream of health care. WFMH provided funds
for research and education
.

Helen Render 1947 Wrote Nurse-Patient Relationships in Psychiatry.

The National Institute of 1949 NIMH was established to provide grants-in-aid;

Mental Health fund training programs and demonstration
projects and; provide support for research.

Hildegard Peplau 1952 Wrote Interpersonal Relations in Nursing, a text

provided the basis for the development of
therapeutic roles in nurse-client relations. The
book was of paramount importance in the
development of psychiatric nursing as a
profession.

Joint Commission on 1955 JCMIH was developed to study and evaluated

Mental Illness and Health needs and resources

World Psychiatric 1961 Examined the social consequences of mental

Association illness.

Economic Opportunity 1963-1979 Stressed the improvement of social environments

Act to prevent the development of mental illness. The
Mental Retardation Facilities and Community
Mental Health Centers Construction Act provide
federal funds to help state and local agencies
decentralize mental health care; provided
 community services and facilities to treat
substance abusers; and proposed that community
mental health programs include special programs
to treat children and the elderly.

50 graduate psychiatric nursing programs were

US Psychiatric Nursing 1970s established in the US.
developments
Private psychiatric hospitals and psychiatric units
were established in general hospitals.

Insurance companies provided coverage for

psychiatric care.

Deinstitutionalization and community living for

mental patients were emphasized, focusing on
teaching them ADLs and self-care.

Canadian and American nurses laid groundwork

for formation of North American Nursing
Diagnosis Association.

Mental Health Systems 1980s Designed to strengthen existing community

Act (1980) efforts and to develop initiatives, was never
implemented due to 1881 legislation.

Omnibus Budget Reconciliation (1981) drastically

curtailed federal funding for health care services.

Emphasis placed on American Nurses Association

(ANA) specially certification exam.

1980s Insurance companies made drastic cuts in

National Alliance for the coverage for psychiatric care.
Mentally Ill
Formation of National Alliance for the Mentally Ill.

Greater emphasis placed on the biologic aspects

of mental illness and on advances in
neuropharmacology. This era is referred to as the
Decade of the Brain.

Training the student nurses on how to assess

behavior of mentally ill patients so that they may
recognize early signs or symptoms.

Instructing student nurses on the relationship

between environmental conditions and mental
disorders.

Teaching the student nurses to be resourceful,

versatile, and adaptable while giving
individualized care (Smyoyak, 1982).