Considered today to be abuse based on pseudo-science, two alleged mental illnesses of negros were described in scientific literature: drapetomania, the mental illness that made slaves desire to run away, and dysaesthesia aethiopica, laziness or "rascality".
In contemporary understanding, these are seen as pseudoscientific abuses of two alleged mental health conditions affecting African Americans: drapetomania, which led slaves to desire escape, and dysaesthesia aethiopica, marked by indolence or misbehavior.