The pioneer of mental health: Philippe Pinel / 中华疾病控制杂志

ABSTRACT

Philippe Pinel (1745-1826) was a well-known French doctor and an outstanding mental health leader. Inspired by the ideas of the Enlightenment, he adopted “moral therapy” for the increasing mental patients in France. He took the lead in scientifically and effectively alleviating the current state of mental illness with the concept of humanitarian care, liberated mental patients, and opened the door for the mental health. Through field observation and meticulous statistical analysis, he classified mental illness into a more comprehensive scientific classification, guiding the direction for identifying, treating, and preventing mental illness, thus laying the theoretical and practical foundation. Many of his achievements about mental health have been used to this day, and he was known as the father of modern psychiatry.