Psychic distress
Editor-in-Chief and Editorial Director, in a “Laborcare Journal” article, talk about “ethics in care”
(By Gianluca Favero and Mariella Orsi)
“A chapter is inaugurated that leads to an extremely dialectical view between the inside and the outside, where the inside is not referred to the inside of a closed institution, but to the inside of us; and the outside to the outside of us.” (Franco Basaglia, Trieste 1974)
On the occasion of the fortieth anniversary of the Law for the Reform of Psychiatric Assistance, also known as the “Basaglia Law” after the name of its inspirer, we thought of dedicating an issue of our journal to the theme of mental distress.
Through the reflections of practitioners in the field: psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses, social workers, and the contribution of psychologist Grazia Zuffa, a member of the National Bioethics Committee, we place specific attention on that sector of care that of nervous and mental disorders that has suffered, and still suffers, partly because of a lesser commitment of resources by the government, the Regions and the Health Authorities.
The paradigm shift, as many authors point out, from the asylum one to the therapeutic one, brought about by the Basaglia Law, marked a real revolution in the health care reality that saw the closure of psychiatric hospitals, the birth and then the development of Territorial Mental Health Services, with the creation of Day Care Centers, Laboratories, Family Homes, Diagnosis and Treatment Services (SPDC) and other social reintegration projects.
Not to mention the recent closure of Judicial Psychiatric Hospitals (J.P.H.) replaced by Residences for the Execution of Security Measures (R.E.M.S.).
While care at the therapeutic level has been developing and growing over the years in both quantity and quality, what, however, has remained very lacking is the area of prevention.
In the 1980s and 1990s, much was done to integrate the problem of mental health protection within the more comprehensive intervention to raise the awareness of the socio-health services and the general population about the risks related to mental distress and, this, starting from early childhood, with very valid experiences of child and adolescent neuropsychiatry, particularly active in collaboration with socio-educational and school services.
Unfortunately, in recent years, this commitment, also due to the cut in resources by the institutions in charge, has been declining.
Another significant problem is that the social stigma that accompanies not only those affected by the person, that is, with mental disability, but also the entire family unit to which they belong, has not yet been overcome.
As for the issue of self-determination and therapeutic choices as a person’s rights, according to what was made explicit in the recent Law 219/2017, currently it is still very complex to recognize these rights for both the autonomous person and the incapacitated person.
In this 23rd issue of Laborcare Journal, as is our custom, the issues will be addressed according to different points of view with particular attention to bring out the gaze not only of professionals but, even more, of those who live daily, or have lived together, with family members affected by mental distress.
It is an intimate, touching dimension that engages the reader, leading him or her to reflect on issues that are not only health-related but, even more ethical and bioethical that, at times, seem to be the exclusive preserve of insiders.
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- It is possible to view the full issue of the magazine at http://www.laborcare.it”
- Read other published articles
Source
- Laborcare Journal (Editorial No. 12)
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