The exact origin of this quotation is uncertain. Most authorities are clear that it reflects sentiments expressed in Ancient Greece, although the original source is a matter of dispute. There seems to be agreement, however, that the specific wording above appears in the late 1800s, most prominently in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem “The Masque of Pandora.” Regardless of its specific origin, the sentence has been (and continues to be) widely used, appearing in writings by Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Leo Tolstoy, Ben Franklin, and Agatha Christie, among others. The phrase—or portions of it—also has been used many times in the titles of movies, books, comic books, and in other writings and speeches. Even William Shatner got to do his usual overacting in a Star Trek episode titled “Whom Gods Destroy” (Star Trek, Season 3, episode 14). {Not coincidentally, that episode involved a mission to an intergalactic asylum for the criminally insane. And, consistent with previous blog discussions of the dangerousness stereotype, the inmates prove both diabolical and dangerous.}
The title quotation expresses the idea that mental health conditions, “madness,” is caused (or sent) by a supreme diety, often as a punishment, an idea also contained in Greek mythology. Take, for example, the myth of Hercules. As the illegitimate son of Zeus, Hercules was much disliked by Hera, Zeus’ wife. She acts out her wrath by causing Hercules to become “mad.” {And, again, it is noteworthy that this madness causes Hercules to kill his family, an early presentation of the stereotyped link of madness and dangerousness/violence.}
A similar theme of heavenly punishment is found in the Bible, in the story of Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar was a powerful king who conquered much land and is credited with creating the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. Of course, he had considerable pride in his accomplishments, but, according to the Bible’s Book of Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar’s pride became excessive, and he was punished by God for this pridefulness. Specifically, God punished Nebuchadnezzar by sending madness upon him so that “he ate grass like an ox, and his body was bathed with the dew of heaven, until his hair grew like the feathers of an eagle, and his nails like the claws of a bird.” {Here is also an example of another stereotype discussed previously, the idea that “madness” makes one animal-like and less human.}
It is rare in the modern Western world to encounter the title statement used literally with reference to mental health conditions—i.e., to assert that a deity has had a direct hand in creating an individual’s mental health condition. Residuals of this ancient belief do remain, however. A summary of cultural views related to mental health (Ahad, Snachez-Gonzalez, and Junquera, 2023), for example, identified some African cultures as still attributing mental health conditions to spiritual or supernatural causes and some Arab cultures that see them as a form of divine punishment. The idea also sometimes appears in fundamentalist Christian congregations. A recent study of “religiously reinforced mental health stigma” (Peteet, 2019) described how a woman troubled by psychiatric symptoms was “encouraged to think about her symptoms as demonic in origin.” Another woman reportedly was “encouraged by her church community…to identify her family’s ‘generational sins’ and pray them away.” In my own interviews with people living with mental health conditions, I encountered similar stories. One woman, for example, described how she was told “because God is a loving God, I obviously had done something wrong to bring this on me.”
Despite these examples, I believe that literal belief in the title assertion—that mental health conditions are a heavenly punishment—is not widespread. However, there is a more common view that emanates from that idea and that is often encountered by those with mental health conditions—the belief that afflicted individuals are somehow to blame for their own mental health conditions, that they have done something to bring about their conditions. Few people may come out and say to those with mental health conditions, “It’s your own fault.” But there is often a discernible undercurrent of the belief that people with mental health conditions ARE to blame for their situations.
We now know that mental health conditions are a result of a complex interplay of many factors —genetics, environments, social and cultural background, and unique personal experiences. We know that people of all social and economic educational backgrounds, upbringing, spirituality, moral righteousness, etc. may develop mental health conditions.
There remains a belief, however, sometimes so much in the back of our minds that we are not fully aware of it, that there is something individuals with mental health conditions must have done or failed to do that has produced their mental health conditions. They have not engaged in good mental health habits. They have not been kind enough or vigilant enough or devout enough or tried hard enough to have obtained better mental health. They have overindulged their desires, made bad choices, exposed themselves to bad influences, perhaps even read too many books. Whatever the specific attribution, the idea persists that they have somehow brought these conditions upon themselves, even that those conditions represent a moral failing of some kind.
One person I interviewed about stigma angrily asked this: “Do you call stigma statements that blame the person or his family for the illness? What about statements that we got this way through cowardice, or that our illness is just a cover-up for ugly things inside of us, or a result of our inability to love another person? If this is stigma, then many of the thing I have learned… would have to be called examples of stigma.” Another reported being told, “You just don’t have enough faith or you wouldn’t feel this way.” Still another noted, “The ongoing theme is that it is your fault…and you should apologize for it.”
It is no surprise, then, that people with mental health conditions often feel shame and are reluctant to disclose their conditions (and to seek help). They fear the accusations and subtle judgments of blame they may encounter. Perhaps even worse, they sometimes accept and incorporate that blame in their views of themselves. They are influenced by the same social and cultural stories and attitudes as others around them, and they may accept the public stereotype that they are weak, flawed, damaged, and thus blameworthy. It is no accident that Stephen Hinshaw, a psychologist and prominent writer on the stigma of mental health conditions, titled his 2011 (highly recommended) book on stigma, “The Mark of Shame.”
Once again, then, I have presented an idea about mental health conditions that is both persistent and damaging. Although this idea–that those with mental health conditions are somehow to blame for their own troubles–is rooted in ancient beliefs and reinforced in the stories we tell and the sayings we repeat, that idea is incorrect. And one way we can contribute to the reduction of stigma and its harmful effects, then, would be to check our thinking about people with mental health conditions and try to purge ourselves of the false and damaging stereotypes that may have infiltrated that thinking, including the one described above.
Otto Wahl, Ph.D.
MHC Development Committee Member
