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That "in this way" is doing a lot of work here. I wonder if doctors were better at mental health (or at least that specific doctor was), or if "in this way" meant they beat him until he agreed to stop liking ships?
Yeah, big conversion therapy vibes. Imagine seeing someone happy and thinking you have to cure them, and then when they remember how happy it made them, they get sad now.
I think we're missing a lot of details. Mania implies something pathologic is going on and it's affecting his life, like maybe he's not eating for a week because he is so obsessed with watching for ships. Yes, he's happy when they return, but that doesn't mean he's happy a majority of the time during these periods.
Yeah, that's what we call a disorder now. As in, some "autistic" or "obsessive" traits can be fairly common at very low levels, but we start calling them disorders when they severely impact your life. Like being physically unable to stop washing your hands 200 times in a row to the point of making yourself bleed, that's a disorder - but being unable to step on black tiles or odd steps on stairs is not severely impacting your life. Same reasoning for things like gambling or porn, it's an addiction only when it starts ruining you, your work, or your family life.
Not sure how damaging that could get for a train or ship lover, you could probably find workarounds for the "forgetting to eat" thing. Like packing a snack. Depends if the person is holding out for weeks on ends while they have other obligations to other people.
I don't know that the mania phrasing is that significant for a serious armchair diagnosis like that. As long as someone constantly stops to watch a ship passing by like they're under a spell, they could call it a mania, inspired by some god or another ; making lists for no reason could be enough for people to call you bonkers (even in the last couple centuries, you could still send people to an asylum for the dumbest assumptions). We're certainly missing details, but that could go either way, it's not enough to suspect something big beyond "people used to think basic mental health was the voices of gods."
Yes, he's happy when they return, but that doesn't mean he's happy a majority of the time during these periods.
He's making lists. He happy.
Are you kidding me? They'd* probably drill a hole into his skull drain some of the blood out of his brain or something, cover his body with leeches and sodomize him with a pillar of salt. Oh, you like boats too much? What you need a good drain and salting.
...go on...
Well here's the full quote...
Thrasyllus from Aexone, the son of Pythodorus, once went so mad that he thought all the ships arriving at Piraeus were his own. He would register them, dispatch them, and manage their affairs. When they returned to port, he would welcome them with the kind of joy you might expect from someone who was really in charge of such great wealth. When ships were lost, he did not inquire after them, but he rejoiced at every one that was saved and recounted it with greatest delight. When his brother Crito came to visit from Sicily, he took him into custody, handed him over to a doctor, and put an end to his madness. Afterwards, Thrasyllus would tell the story, saying that he had never in his life been happier, for he felt not pain whatsoever, while the amount of pleasure he felt was overwhelming.’”
Oh, you meant the pillar...
"What is the cure for such disorders? Beatings."
The past is often an ugly place. I wouldn't be surprised.