For decades, men and women with psychiatric pathologies were isolates from society and placed to what were formerly called “insane asylums” (in Spanish, “manicomios”), where they remained, in many cases, their entire lives. Conditions were pretty awful and terrible. But 36 years ago, a law published in the Official State Bulletin (BOE) promised to change the lives of thousands of people. And, despite its achievements, what is known as psychiatric reform has not fulfil all the objectives that were set at that time.

I started my Bachelor Degree in Medicine and Surgery in 1995, so I was not able to perform internships in institutions of that type. The General Health Law of 1986 aimed, among other things, to develop a revolution in mental health. The objective was to avoid permanent admissions and, at the same time, support patients in order to provide the legal right to have own environment, without being separated from their family and close friends, which is known as community care.

The current reality is changing: care for mental illness in Acute Care Units, in which women and men live in spaces that are now defined and marked, insurmountable for each predetermined activity, are a sign of the therapeutic and regulatory fusion of care for mental illness.

I strongly advise reading both books comparatively: “Frankenstein’s mother” (Almudena Grandes, Ed. Tusquets) and “Emotional health in times of crisis”, Ed. Herder). Henceforth we must learn from history addressing a constructive perspective. To finish, one of my favorites quotes: “Intelligence grows from mistakes.”