Non è importante tanto il fatto che in futuro ci siano o meno manicomi e cliniche chiuse, è importante che noi, adesso, abbiamo provato che si può fare diversamente, ora sappiamo che c’è un altro modo di affrontare la questione; anche senza la costrizione.
Franco Basaglia (1924 – 1980) was an Italian psychiatrist and neurologist, professor who proposed the dismantling of psychiatric hospitals, pioneer of the modern concept of mental health, Italian psychiatry reformer, charismatic leader in Italian psychiatry, figurehead and founder of Democratic Psychiatry architect and principal proponent of Law 180 which abolished mental hospitals. He was the most influential Italian psychiatrist of the 20th century.
Basaglia Law (Law 180) (Italian: Legge Basaglia, Legge 180) is the Italian Mental Health Act of 1978 which signified a large reform of the psychiatric system in Italy, contained directives for the closing down of all psychiatric hospitals and led to their gradual replacement with a whole range of community-based services, including settings for acute in-patient care. The Basaglia Law is the basis of Italian mental health legislation. The principal proponent of Law 180 and its architect was Italian psychiatrist Franco Basaglia. The Parliament of Italy enacted Law 180 on May 13, 1978, and thereby initiated the gradual dismantling of psychiatric hospitals. Implementation of the psychiatric reform law was accomplished in 1998 which marked the very end of the state psychiatric hospital system in Italy. The Law has had worldwide impact as other counties took up widely the Italian model. It was Democratic Psychiatry which was essential in the birth of the reform law of 1978.
The main long-term consequences of implementation of Law 180 are the following:
1. Patients who were staying in mental hospitals before 1978 were gradually discharged into the community.
2. The availability of psychiatric beds in Italy is lower than in other comparable countries: Italy has 46 psychiatric beds for every 100, 000 population, compared with 58 in UK, 77 in USA and 276 in Japan.
鉄格子や鉄の扉に押し込めることを正当化するような精神状態など、本来ないのだ。精神病者の、ときおりの暴力は、結果である。施設の中での抑圧で引き起こされた人間としての反応である。つまり、それは精神病院が引き起こす病気。精神病院などやめて人間的存在たりうる温かい状況に置くことができれば、精神病者の暴力などなくなるのだ。