Guillaume Ferrus

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Guillaume-Marie-André Ferrus (1784-1861) was a French psychiatrist. He was a student of Philippe Pinel (1745-1826), and for much of his career was associated with the Bicêtre Hospital in Paris. He was one of the founders of Société Médico-Psychologique, and was its first president (1852-53). In 1835 he was appointed inspector-general of mental institutions.

With Pinel and Jean-Étienne Dominique Esquirol (1772-1840), Ferrus was a major force regarding reform of insane asylums in early and mid-19th century France. He founded La Ferme Sainte-Anne, which was an innovative agricultural project designed as work therapy for mental patients. Ferrus believed that the vast majority of mental illnesses were due to a physical disorder, even if the problem wasn't anatomically apparent. This viewpoint led to bitter disputes with physicians such as François Leuret (1797-1851), who maintained that somatic disorders were only occasionally the cause of mental illness.