What is "alienism"

Alienism \Al"ien*ism\, n.

1. The status or legal condition of an alien; alienage.

   The law was very gentle in the construction of the disability of alienism.
   --Kent.

2. The study or treatment of diseases of the mind.

Etymology 1 n. The fact or position of being an alien; alienage. Etymology 2

n. (context archaic English) The study or treatment of mental disorders; psychiatry.

n. the quality of being alien [syn: alienage]

Alienism may refer to:

• An obsolete term for psychiatry, the study and treatment of mental illnesses
• Alien (law), a person who resides within the borders of a country and is not a national of that country