Why is there prejudice against mental illness?
Mental illness has long been feared and misunderstood. Archaeologists have discovered 5000-year-old skulls with small round holes bored in them thought to be to release evil spirits. This is still done in some cultures today. In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, mentally ill people were locked up in lunatic asylums which are now considered barbaric. Asylums were still being closed in the 1990s. These days, scientists and doctors are beginning to understand the changes causing mental illness. This will lead to new, more effective treatments in the twenty-first century.