ABOUT THE COVER
Preserving memories of our old hospital
Walmor João Piccinini
The cover of our journal presents objects that used to decorate the director's room at Hospital Psiquiátrico São Pedro. By examining details of that photograph, I remembered a classical movie by Michelangelo Antonioni (1912-2007), "Blowup", and I also thought everyone would know this movie, but after checking the date it was launched, 1966, I got to the conclusion that, except for older individuals, few would remember it.
The movie, at that time, aroused my attention due to a detail of photographic technique. The resource of zooming and detailing was used, and that allowed me to visualize the weapon of an ongoing crime. When examining our photograph, I wondered about the zooming of details that do not catch our attention in a quick glance. In the foreground there is a Continental typewriter, whose model could be from 1937. In a fast search on the Internet, I found a similar one for sale for R$ 100. This is a sad destiny of that and other typewriters in these computer times. The very idea of photographic zooming is obsolete if we imagine the capacity of Google Earth and of the recently launched Google Sky.
Decorating the table, there are traditional French classics, which were mandatory readings for psychiatrists in the early 20th century.
Following that process of zooming the image, we can see on the left a picture with the image of Dr. Carlos Lisboa, first director of that asylum. He was born in 1859, graduated in Rio de Janeiro and came to work in his hometown. Hospício São Pedro's management was given to Santa Casa. This young physician who had recently arrived from the Republic capital was chosen to be the first director. Carlos Lisboa took over in 1884 and remained in that position for a short time: a deadly disease killed him in his golden years. He worked for four years as the asylum director, was a clinician and structured psychiatric care according to that knowledge.
Below the image of the first director is another picture, with another director, but from the 1960's. The person in the picture is Dr. Luiz Pinto Ciulla, who was director in 1960-61. Ciulla was one of the four first psychiatrists admitted through contest at the so-called Hospital São Pedro. He obtained the first position in a contest that included Mario Martins, Cyro Martins and Victor de Brito Velho. All of them participated in the formation of Sociedade de Psiquiatria, Neurologia e Neurocirurgia do Rio Grande do Sul in 1938, which had Dr. Jacinto Godoy as its first president. Ciulla was always a faithful partner of Jacinto and worked with him at Sanatório São José. In 1960, a symposium on depression was held in Rio de Janeiro, in which imipramine was launched in Brazil. One of the works was presented by Dr. Luiz Ciulla.1
During Ciulla's management, the Melanie Klein division, a training center for hundreds of psychiatrists from Rio Grande do Sul, was created. Young psychiatrists graduated from that unit gradually moved to other hospital wards, headed units and started a transformation in care model. That time seems so distant, but I still remember the truly epopee of taking over Pinel Division. It was a hospital sector with more than 1,000 patients, with areas to where nobody could have access, not even physicians. A group of physicians decided to place offices in the division yard and were partners in this task of fighting madness with bravery. There is a published work2 about the creation of a bar inside Pinel Division, and cigarettes were the exchange currency. That article shows the first socialization attempts in an environment that had been isolated from the outer world. It discusses the influence of psychoanalytical knowledge on care improvement at a psychiatric hospital.
The table and chairs followed the course of several directors and may be seen in photographs of different times. Discretely, on a chair, there is a briefcase of a patient. Certainly modest, since few things could be put in such a tiny space.
The history of Hospital Psiquiátrico São Pedro sends us back to times when the medical activity was more respected. The position of Hospital director was the apex of every professional's career. Introduction of chlorpromazine in 1956 and imipramine in 1960 brought a revolution in treatment: hospitalizations were reduced, discharges increased, and finally the hospital was reduced to patients who remain there because they have no other place to go. The old São Pedro was gradually deactivated, investments fell, and a weird association of extremes is still fighting to liquidate it. Those who do not want to spend on the health of the population can be understood. But it is hard to understand health professionals who adopt an attitude of denying the existence of mental illnesses and try to damage in every way the work of providing care.
References
1. Ciulla LP. Contribuição ao tratamento das depressões com tofranil. J Bras Psiquiatr. 1960;9(1,2):79-92.
2. Santos MG, Haillot JC. Observações clínicas de um fenômeno sociológico num hospital público. J Bras Psiquiatr. 1970;19(3):215-23.
Publication Dates
-
Publication in this collection
13 Dec 2007 -
Date of issue
Aug 2007
