Johann Christian August Heinroth (17 January 1773 – 26 October 1843) was a German physician andpsychologist who was the first to use the termpsychosomatic. Heinroth divided the human personality into three components in the 1800s, describing theUberuns (conscience), theIch (mind, emotions and will) and theFleish (basic drives, which included man's sinful nature).
Heinroth was born inLeipzig. He initially studied medicine there, later continuing his education inVienna underJohann Peter Frank (1745–1821). After briefly studyingtheology inErlangen, he returned to Leipzig, where in 1805 he obtained his medical doctorate. In 1806 he became a lecturer at theUniversity of Leipzig, where in 1827 he was appointed a full professor of physical medicine.
Heinroth is largely remembered for seminal work done in the field ofpsychiatry. His views on psychiatric thought have been described as a combination ofanthropology andholistic medicine. He believed that thesoul had primacy over the body, and that the body and soul interacted in several ways. Consequently, mental sickness and manysomatic illnesses are caused by the soul. In 1818 he introduced the term "psychosomatic" into medical literature.[1]
Heinroth regarded sin as a cause ofmental illness. His description of sin came from a 19th-century Protestant standpoint, and was also derived from an accepted European code ofethics and morality. His definition of sin wasn't based on a singular event, but rather as a period of several years of an individual striving towards earthly, bodily satisfaction.[2] From a philosophical point of view, Heinroth espoused the teachings ofJohann Gottfried Herder (1744–1803).[3]
In his 1818 textbookStörungen des Seelenlebens he classified mental disorders into different categories. The three main categories were named the exaltations, thedepressions and the "mixed states" (Mischung) of exaltation and weakness. He further divided the mixed states category into subcategories called 'mixed mood disorders', 'mixed mental disorders' and 'mixed volition disorders'.
Schmideler S, Steinberg H. Johann Christian August Heinroth (1773-1843). In: Wiemers G (Eds). Sächsische Lebensbilder Vol. 6, pt. 1, Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag 2009:313-337
Steinberg H. Johann Christian August Heinroth (1773-1843) - Der erste Lehrstuhlinhaber für Psychiatrie und sein Krankheitskonzept. In: Angermeyer MC, Steinberg H (Eds). 200 Jahre Psychiatrie an der Universität Leipzig. Personen und Konzepte.Heidelberg: Springer Medizin Verlag, 2005: 1-80
Steinberg, H (2004). "Die Errichtung des ersten psychiatrischen Lehrstuhls: Johann Christian August Heinroth in Leipzig" [Creation of the first university chair in psychiatry: Johann Christian August Heinroth in Leipzig].Der Nervenarzt (in German).75 (3):303–7.doi:10.1007/s00115-003-1605-3.PMID15021930.S2CID7565278.
Steinberg, H (2004). "The sin in the aetiological concept of Johann Christian August Heinroth (1773-1843). Part 1: Between theology and psychiatry. Heinroth's concepts of 'whose being', 'freedom', 'reason' and 'disturbance of the soul'".History of Psychiatry.15 (59 Pt 3):329–44.doi:10.1177/0957154x04043740.PMID15386866.S2CID29440062.
Steinberg, H (2004). "The sin in the aetiological concept of Johann Christian August Heinroth (1773-1843): Part 2: Self-guilt as turning away from reason in the framework of Heinroth's concept of the interrelationships between body and soul".History of Psychiatry.15 (60 Pt 4):437–54.doi:10.1177/0957154x04043742.PMID15628028.S2CID34027480.
^Steinberg, H (2004). "The sin in the aetiological concept of Johann Christian August Heinroth (1773-1843): Part 2: Self-guilt as turning away from reason in the framework of Heinroth's concept of the interrelationships between body and soul".History of Psychiatry.15 (60 Pt 4):437–54.doi:10.1177/0957154x04043742.PMID15628028.S2CID34027480.
^[1] Romantic Anthropology, Who are the central figures of Romantic Anthropology?
