Bénédict Augustin Morel (1809-1873): The Originator of the Degenerative Theory of the Heredity of Mental Disorders and the Pioneer of the Biological Approach to Psychiatry.

The concept of progressive hereditary degeneration, which significantly influenced medical, particularly psychiatric and in turn social thought of the second half of the 19th century, was articulated by Bénédict Augustin Morel. The distinguished French psychiatrist developed the theory of degeneration and created the nosological framework of the heredity of mental illness in order to explain the more frequent psychoses and nervous disorders. In the absence of patho-anatomical findings, Morel attributed these phenomena to hereditary causes.