Between cloistering and deinstitutionalization: the mental health trajectory in Brazil

Abstract

The goal was to analyze the trajectory of mental health policies in Brazil. We systematize historical periods based on the analysis of socio-political contexts, the organization of the health system and the characteristics of mental health care. We identified seven periods from the institutionalization of madness, in the imperial period, until 2019. The trajectory of politics reveals a process of dispute of epistemological and symbolic conceptions about madness and mental illness, which in interaction with other contextual factors influence the care models and care practices. Subsequently, we discussed the plurality of approaches to deinstitutionalization in the international scenario and the influences on the mental health model proposed by the Brazilian Psychiatric Reform. We present a synthesis of the idea of deinstitutionalization considering the various dimensions that involve the comprehensive perspective of the term. Finally, we reflect on the advances and challenges of the Brazilian Psychiatric Reform. Despite the significant achievements, problems related to financing, stigmatization, fragile intersectoral articulation and the reproduction of asylum logic in substitute services persist. In addition, the current changes in the National Mental Health Policy are the main threats to the deinstitutionalizing model.

Keywords
mental health; deinstitutionalization; mental health assistance; health care; health policy