Alexander Morison: The Physiognomy of Mental Diseases

Sir Alexander Morison (1779–1866) was a Scottish physician and psychiatrist who was best known for his belief that a person's physiognomy reveals a great deal about their mental state. His views had a significant influence on 19th-century psychiatry in England. His publication The Physiognomy of Mental Diseases, originally published in 1840, made an important contribution to this field. The work is a collection of Morison's transcribed lectures and other texts in which psychological illnesses are divided into four categories: “mania,” “monomania,” “dementia,” and “idiocy”. From today's perspective, the content is of course outdated, but it provides valuable insight into the development of psychiatry and the understanding of psychological illnesses in the 19th century. Particularly noteworthy are the 102 drawings of various patients that Morison treated during his career. They give us a small glimpse into the isolated world of the people affected, about whom in most cases we know very little today.