Johann Christian Reil facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Johann Christian Reil
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Reil the anatomist: a portrait from 1811
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| Born | 20 February 1759 Rhaude, Rhauderfehn, Kingdom of Prussia, Holy Roman Empire
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| Died | 22 November 1813 (aged 54) Halle an der Saale, Kingdom of Prussia
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| Nationality | German |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | physics physiology anatomy psychiatry |
| Institutions | University of Halle Humboldt University of Berlin |
Johann Christian Reil (born February 20, 1759 – died November 22, 1813) was an important German physician. He was also a physiologist (someone who studies how living things work), an anatomist (someone who studies the body's structure), and a psychiatrist. He is famous for creating the word "psychiatry" in 1808.
Reil was one of five children. His father was a pastor in Northwest Germany. In 1788, he married Johanna Wilhelmine Leveaux. They had six children together: two sons and four daughters.
Contents
Reil's Discoveries in the Body
Johann Christian Reil discovered and described several parts of the human body. Some parts are even named after him!
Parts of the Brain
He identified the "Islands of Reil" which are a special part of the cerebral cortex (the outer layer of the brain). In 1809, he was also the first to describe a group of nerve fibers called the arcuate fasciculus. This part of the brain helps with language.
Other Medical Findings
A condition once called "Reil's finger" is now known as Raynaud syndrome. This condition affects blood flow to the fingers and toes.
Reil's Career and Work
Reil studied medicine in Göttingen, Germany, from 1779 to 1780. There, he met another scientist named Johann Friedrich Blumenbach.
Working in Halle
From 1788 to 1810, Reil worked at a hospital in Halle, Germany. He created a medical program there. In 1795, he started the first German journal about physiology. A journal is like a magazine for scientific articles.
Moving to Berlin
In 1810, Reil became one of the first professors of psychiatry in Berlin. This was a big step for the field of mental health. The famous poet Goethe even visited Reil to talk about science and get medical advice.
Ideas About Mental Health
Reil used the term Psychiaterie (psychiatry) in a journal he helped start. He believed that mental health needed its own special field of study. He thought it should not just be part of medicine or religion.
Helping People with Mental Illness
Reil wanted to make people aware of the difficult lives of those with mental illness in asylums. He also wanted to find better ways to treat them. He believed in a "psychical method" of treatment. This was similar to the "moral treatment" movement of his time. This movement focused on treating patients with kindness and respect.
Reil's View on Madness
Reil saw madness not as a complete break from reason, but as a problem linked to wider society. He thought that as civilization advanced, it might even create more mental health issues. He believed these problems were not due to brain damage or bad genes. Instead, he thought they were a disturbance in how the mind's functions worked, rooted in the nervous system.
Reil's Final Years
Johann Christian Reil died on November 22, 1813. He caught typhus while treating wounded soldiers. This happened during the Battle of Leipzig, also known as the Battle of the Nations. This was a very big battle during the Napoleonic Wars.
See also
- Emil Kraepelin
- Kurt Schneider
