The harsher treatment isn't really what I was talking about. People were often said to be "off" or "crazy", but no one talk about it much. Likely mental disorders were underreported because there was less interest in understanding them and more ostracization of those who were open about it. Classifying mental disorders does not mean we're letting people off the hook.

Like I posted previously, physiological factors with the brain can cause poor emotion and impulse control. Abuse during the developmental stages of the brain could also wire the brain in strange ways that, again, someone may not be able to actually control.

Saying society is "soft" and these people are "weak" doesn't solve anyone's problems.