There was a time when people would take doses of mercury for just about any ailment. No, it didn’t really help. Often it made things worse, sometimes much worse. And there was a chance it could result in death.
The modern-day equivalent is so-called “conversion therapy,” where practitioners believe they can “cure” a patient’s same-sex attraction. It’s an (almost) universally discredited and disavowed practice, surviving predominantly in die-hard religious communities.
It can prove incredibly damaging to young people subjected to the antiquated pseudo-science. One recent university study found that youth victims of conversion therapy were twice as likely to suffer from depression and two to three times as likely to attempt suicide.