The history of psychiatry considers and analyses a number of the most important developmental aspects of the science, first of all its chronological aspect which includes knowledge of special historical dates determining the stages of the science development. Since J. Reil had introduced the term "psychiatry" in 1803, for 200 years, there is regular accumulation and systematisation of all new data in the field of psychopathology. Nevertheless, many other important historic milestones signifying achievements of psychiatry exist. In 1822, A. Beyle had popularised the recognition of progressive paralysis as an independent disease clinically; this served as an incentive for the development of the nosological direction. The same can be said concerning early imbecility described by E. Kraepelin in 1896, groups of schizophrenia separated by E. Bleuler in 1911 out, and other diseases. The second, but no less important, aspect is the personological aspect implies the broad awareness of historical importance for psychiatry of outstanding physicians and scientists, who determined the formation of the most important directions in the development of the science. Ph. Pinel personifies creation of fundamentals of scientific psychiatry. He had freed people with a mental health condition from their fetters having to destroy the so-called syndrome of chains, which gave a possibility to study the manifestation of psychosis in natural conditions. In his declining years, Ph. Pinel became an academician and consultant at the imperial court of Napoleon.
His students and followers J. Esquirol, A. Foville, J. Falret, J. Baillarger, E. Lasegue and other people were developing the nosological approach.
W. Griesinger (Germany) introduced the concept of "symptom complex" (syndrome), described obsessive sophistication, developed the concept of a unitary psychosis, having discovered the general law of the phased shift of psychopathological syndromes in the development of psychosis (1845).