Davis: Chapter 1 Origins of Obsession

This chapter is in my opinion an excellent example of disease entity. Davis first discusses religious explanations being the force behind obsessions. It was being characterized by demons taking over the body-it's treatment being exorcisms. A collection of conditions called a quartet made up the forces behind madness, which in the eighteenth century defined the new kind of mental distress of the era. The quartet included hysteria, hypochondria, vapors, and spleen. From the reading I believe the quartet explained the underground reasons behind mental illnesses and disorders of the time. I really liked the following two theories of the eighteenth century-organ theory and nervous disorders. From the examples presented in the book, I can definitely agree with the disease entity belief, that we were not wrong before, just have a different set of definitions. Davis mentioned "humors interacted in creating an out-of-balance system; vapors arose from specific organs and affected other organs, particularly the brain". After reading this statement, I actually said oh my, that makes sense (of course if I lived in that era). I also agree with the idea of philosophers being better suited to treat a disorder of the mind then a physician only because I believe philosophers studies were based on the mind and they are in a better position for a more efficient analysis, as was the case, described by J.J. Belloc on page 44.  Over these past centuries cases of mental illnesses were being categorized as more common and larger groups of people which wasnt the case in the earliest of times. Davis then says the condition does not yet have the name "obsession" but it emerges from between two models. This was the defining cause for me to believe that obsession is a disease entity and not disease hence the title, origins of obsession. This chapter was extremely informative as well as interesting to read!!!