Historical Treatments for Mental Illness (Left:) Found in Peru, this pre-Columbian skull shows the results of primitive surgery on the brain, called trephining, presumably as a treatment to allow evil spirits to leave the body. (Middle:) A “tranquilizing chair” was developed in the early 1800s to restrain and sedate unmanageable patients. (Right:) An early treatment apparatus called the “circulating swing” involved spinning patients.

(left) The Granger Collection