Fear in epidemic crisis: A historic approach

Abstract

Mental health in epidemic periods is a recurrent theme, as well as epidemics themselves. Based on an investigation of news and advertisements published in the generalist press, we became aware of the importance of disseminating scientific knowledge to a wide audience and of the themes addressed in these periods of health crises, which affected the economy, society and politics. This article addresses the effect that new diseases had on the more intimate behaviour of affected populations. From the ancestral fear of hospitals, places associated with a certain death, to the fear of the unknown, in the face of diseases whose causes and their treatments had not yet been identified by science. The sanitary measures applied by the authorities have always aroused antagonistic reactions due to the deprivations to which the affected populations were subject. From the mid-nineteenth century onwards, daily newspapers were fundamental vehicles in the transmission of scientific knowledge, health advice and standards, and the discussions that these novelties have raised.