Dynamis

Psiquiatría en el primer franquismo: saberes y prácticas para un "Nuevo Estado"

En los inicios de la psiquiatría franquista: el Congreso Nacional de Neurología y Psiquiatría (Barcelona, 1942)

Aunque existen algunas aportaciones sobre las características de la psiquiatría franquista, lo cierto es que faltan trabajos que aborden el proceso de reorganización de los profesionales de la medicina mental en el "Nuevo Estado". En este sentido, el Congreso Nacional de Neurología y Psiquiatría, celebrado en Barcelona los días 12, 13 y 14 de enero de 1942, constituye, sin duda, un muy destacado ejemplo de dicho intento de sustitución de ideas y protagonistas en la psiquiatría española. El objeto de este artículo es analizar los principales aspectos organizativos del mencionado Congreso, así como sus contenidos más destacados, con el fin de valorar su importancia estratégica en el marco de los intereses profesionales y científicos, pero también ideológicos y políticos, de los psiquiatras. Las ponencias y comunicaciones versaron sobre neurología y psiquiatría de guerra; avitaminosis y sistema nervioso; y nuevos tratamientos en psiquiatría, en especial las terapias de choque. Asimismo, el congreso tuvo un marcado carácter ideológico y supuso el inicio de una dinámica profesional, con la aparición o el afianzamiento de nuevos líderes que pretendieron sentar las bases de la psiquiatría durante el primer franquismo.

While there has been some research into Francoist psychiatry, much work still needs to be done on the reorganization of the mental health profession within the new state. Held in Barcelona on 12, 13 and 14th January 1942, the National Neurology and Psychiatry Conference undoubtedly played a major role in the attempt to overthrow the dominant ideas in the field of Spanish psychiatry and displace its most influential figures. This article seeks to analyse the Conference's main organizational features and examine its most significant content, with the aim of evaluating its strategic importance in the context of both the psychiatrists' professional and scientific interests and their ideological and political concerns. Conference papers tackled issues such as neurology and psychiatry in wartime, vitamin deficiency and the nervous system, and new psychiatric treatments, including shock therapy. The Conference's marked ideological nature represented the beginning of a new professional dynamic, featuring the emergence or establishment of new leaders intent on laying the foundations of psychiatry during the early years of the Franco regime.

Por la psicopatología hacia Dios: psiquiatría y saber de salvación durante el primer franquismo

Al finalizar la Segunda Guerra Mundial, el régimen franquista intentó distanciarse de los fascismos derrotados acentuando su carácter católico. El cambio de imagen culminó en 1947 con el establecimiento, mediante la Ley de Sucesión, de España como Estado Católico. Este proceso ocasionó que la ideología nacionalcatólica se convirtiera en las primeras décadas de la dictadura en la fuerza hegemónica para la transformación de la sociedad española en un sentido antimodernizador. La actividad científica no quedó exenta de esa modulación, fomentándose la creación de una ciencia católica, portadora de valores universales y armonizada con la fe. Los conceptos psiquiátricos elaborados por Juan José López Ibor durante el primer franquismo -la anagogía, el instinto de perfección, la psicagogia y, sobre todo, la timopatía ansiosa y la angustia vital- constituyeron un ejemplo de esa ciencia católica. Se analizan aquí el trasfondo cristiano de dichas nociones, su repercusión científica y la utilidad social que tuvieron para la dictadura. El trabajo subraya como resultados, por un lado, la concepción de esas nociones psiquiátricas clave del primer franquismo como saberes de salvación, esto es, como transmisoras de supuestos valores eternos acordes con la visión del catolicismo dominante por entonces; y, por otro, el funcionamiento de tales nociones como un dispositivo más de la red reguladora diseñada y desplegada por el franquismo para fomentar la sumisión y la resignación de la población.

After World War II came to an end, General Franco's regime attempted to step aside from the defeated fascist states by emphasizing its Catholic character. The change of image culminated in 1947 with the establishment of Spain as a Catholic State by means of the Law of Succession. This process generated the national catholic ideology, which became, during the first decades of the dictatorship, the hegemonic instrument for the transformation of Spanish society in an anti-modernizing way. Scientific activity was not excluded from these changes, and a Catholic science conveying universal values and in harmony with the faith was strongly encouraged. One example of this Catholic science was the psychiatric approach developed by Juan José López Ibor during the first Francoist period, including the concepts of anagogy, the perfection instinct, psychagogy and, above all, anxious thymopathy and life anguish. This paper analyses the Christian background of these notions, their scientific repercussions and their social utility for the dictatorship. This paper emphasizes the consideration of these key notions of Spanish psychiatry during the First Francoism as knowledge of salvation, i.e., as conveyors of assumed eternal values in accordance with the prevailing view of Catholicism. On the other hand, it points to the functioning of these concepts as a part of the regulatory network designed and deployed by Francoism to promote submission and resignation in the Spanish population.

La higiene mental durante el primer franquismo: de la higiene racial a la prevención de la enfermedad mental (1939-1960)

Se pretende estudiar las bases ideológicas de la higiene mental, entendida como higiene racial y moral, durante el primer franquismo, así como su evolución hasta 1960. En primer lugar, se analiza la conceptualización de la higiene mental en la década de 1940 y su papel como instrumento para legitimar la dictadura, mostrando las implicaciones del catolicismo ortodoxo, así como sus vinculaciones con la higiene racial y la moral. En segundo lugar, se estudia la transformación de la higiene mental durante la década de 1950 hacia una mayor tecnificación y vinculación con las corrientes más modernas de la psiquiatría coetánea, sin abandonar nunca el sustrato ideológico del catolicismo. Para ello nos centraremos en el análisis tanto de la Semana de Higiene Mental celebrada en Barcelona en 1954 como en la creación del Patronato Nacional de Asistencia Psiquiátrica, que asumió entre sus competencias las de la higiene mental. El trabajo muestra la estrecha vinculación de la higiene mental durante el primer franquismo con los principios políticos de la Dictadura. Durante la década de 1940 se erigió un discurso duro que consideró la higiene mental como un instrumento para educar moral y espiritualmente al pueblo español en los principios políticos del "Nuevo Estado", patologizar a la disidencia política y purificar ideológicamente el país. En la década de 1950, la higiene mental franquista vivió un proceso de aggiornamiento muy marcado por los acontecimientos políticos internacionales y la derrota del fascismo en la Segunda Guerra Mundial, iniciándose un proyecto autoritario de modernización en un contexto internacional ya dirigido hacia la salud mental.

In this paper, we study the ideological bases of mental hygiene, understood as racial and moral hygiene, during the first years of Franco's regime and their evolution until 1960. First, we discuss the conceptualization of mental hygiene in the 1940s and its role as a tool for the legitimization of dictatorship, revealing the involvement of orthodox Catholicism and its links with moral and racial hygiene. Second, we assess the transformation of mental hygiene during the 1950s towards modernization and a stronger linkage with the dominant trends of contemporary psychiatry without ever leaving the ideological background of Catholicism. For this purpose, we will focus on analysis of the activities of the Mental Hygiene Week held in Barcelona in 1954 and on the creation in 1955 of the National Board of Psychiatric Care, which took on mental hygiene as one of its functions. This paper shows the close relationship of mental hygiene during the early years of Francoism with the political principles of the Dictatorship. The 1940s witnessed the deployment of a harsh discourse in which mental hygiene was a tool for the (moral and spiritual) education of the Spanish people in the political principles of the "New State", pathologizing political dissent and ideologically purifying the country. In the 1950s, Francoist mental hygiene underwent a process of aggiornamento marked by international political events following the defeat of fascism in World War II, advancing a project for (authoritarian) modernization in an international context already directed towards mental health.

Iberian eugenics?: Cross-overs and contrasts between Spanish and Portuguese eugenics, 1930-1950

This article provides the basis for further considerations on the overlap between different expressions of science, in particular psychotechnics, biotypology and eugenics, in Iberia. It sets the reception of and interest in these scientific undertakings within the specific context pertaining in both Iberian dictatorships and considers the importance of the culture of the scientific community, the role of religion and the presence of positivism within each. While the actual traffic of knowledge between the two countries was limited, the contrasts and differences in the uptake of these specialisms within the two countries and their proximity or otherwise to other fascist and authoritarian regimes of the 1930s and 1940s are explored. The article concludes that in the Spanish case, although there were greater proximities to certain forms of fascist and Nazi eugenics, it was the commitment to Catholicism and nationalist regeneration that allowed for concessions to environmental improvements. A more Germanic strain was present in Portugal but this was dislodged by a consistent commitment to social hygiene rather than racial hygiene, again within the constraints provided by overarching Catholicism.

The transcontinental birth of a species: scientific discussions and natural history museums in the second half of the nineteenth century

This article is a case study of the scientific discussions on the birth of a zoological species that eventually came to be known as Arctocephalus philippii (Peters, 1866). It also examines the movement of the remains of a sea lion specimen from Chile to Germany and the discussions that arose in regard to its taxonomic definition. The paper argues that the material properties of this mobilized specimen, the circumstances of how it was hunted, transported and stored at the different museums, as well as the material aspects that later allowed it to be compared and analyzed, influenced the international debates on its classification between naturalists in England, Germany, Chile and Argentina. The first part reconstructs the context of sea lion's capture, transportation and transformation, while the second examines the discussion around this particular specimen - a controversy hinged partly upon the issue of the conditions in which it was graphically reproduced and preserved at the museum.

Hydrotherapy and medical entrepreneurship: the "water spell" of Ricardo Jorge

Entre 1886 e 1893, o médico e higienista Ricardo Jorge esteve ligado a um projeto de valorização comercial e terapêutica das águas do Gerês. Conhecidas desde há longos séculos e alvo de habituais peregrinações terapêuticas assentes numa tradição de base empírica, as propriedades curativas dessas águas passam a assumir um papel de maior destaque a partir da década de 80 do século XIX quando as análises químicas começam a servir propósitos de avaliação das suas qualidades mineromedicinais. Este artigo aborda detalhadamente o projeto médico-empresarial ricardiano em torno da hidroterapia, enquadrando-o no contexto da valorização económica e terapêutica das águas mineromedicinais, no reavivar do fenómeno do termalismo e na legitimação da hidrologia pelos progressos na avaliação química das águas. Apesar do insucesso comercial na exploração dos recursos hídricos, esta incursão ricardiana mostra as dificuldades do projecto e a complexidade do exercício profissional da medicina hidrológica, mas também o reforço da autoridade e prestígio de Ricardo Jorge no campo da hidroterapia.

Between 1886 and 1893, the doctor and hygienist Ricardo Jorge was linked to a commercial and medical project on the waters of GerÃªs. Known for many centuries and used for therapeutic purposes, they were administered on an empirical basis. When new chemical analyses were first published, the empirical properties of these waters took on a new role in hydrotherapy based on their now proven mineral and medicinal qualities. The article discusses in detail Ricardo Jorge's business venture, framing it in the context of the economic collection and treatment potential of mineral waters and the revival of the phenomenon of hydrotherapy, legitimized by new developments in the chemical analysis of waters. The commercial failure to exploit the water resources highlights the difficulties of this project and the complexity of the professional practice of hydrological medicine, although it resulted in a strengthening of Ricardo's authority and prestige in the field of hydrotherapy.

Regulation, circulation and distribution of penicillin in Portugal (1944-1954)

Portugal foi um dos primeiros países do mundo, não participantes na II Guerra Mundial, a obter penicilina para uso civil. Em 1944 o medicamento começou a ser importado dos Estados Unidos da América pela Cruz Vermelha Portuguesa, mas como as quantidades eram escassas a sua distribuição foi confiada a uma comissão controladora constituída pela instituição. Em 1945, com o aumento da produção mundial, a penicilina foi integrada no circuito comercial de venda de medicamentos. A Comissão Reguladora dos Produtos Químicos e Farmacêuticos, fundada em 1940, enquadrada na política normalizadora do Estado Novo, com a finalidade de tutelar a atividade farmacêutica e o comércio dos medicamentos, exerceu um importante papel na regulação da venda do antibiótico. Entre 1945 e 1947 a penicilina foi importada como medicamento. A partir de 1947 a penicilina começou a ser importada como matéria-prima e em 1948 foram lançadas no mercado as primeiras especialidades farmacêuticas com penicilina preparadas em Portugal. Para garantir a qualidade dos medicamentos e minimizar a existência de produtos sem eficácia terapêutica comprovada a Comissão Reguladora dos Produtos Químicos e Farmacêuticos estabeleceu, em 1942, um laboratório para proceder à verificação analítica de medicamentos e produtos medicinais. Somente a partir de 1948, após o início da produção nacional de medicamentos com penicilina, é que o antibiótico começou a ser verificado analiticamente. A produção industrial de penicilina em Portugal surgiu em 1966. No presente artigo pretendemos demonstrar o papel da Comissão Reguladora dos Produtos Químicos e Farmacêuticos na regulamentação e no controlo da penicilina em Portugal no contexto dos outros medicamentos, bem como dar a conhecer o modo de regulação, circulação e distribuição da penicilina em Portugal nos anos 40 e 50 do século XX.

Portugal did not participate in World War II but was one of the first countries in the world to receive penicillin for civilian use. The Portuguese Red Cross began to import the antibiotic from the United States of America in 1944 and appointed a controlling committee to oversee its distribution, due to the small amount available. In 1945, as world production increased, penicillin began to be distributed through the normal channels. An important role in its regulation was played by the official department responsible for controlling pharmaceutical and chemical products in Portugal, the Comissão Reguladora dos Produtos Químicos e Farmacêuticos (Regulatory Committee for Chemical and Pharmaceutical Products). Penicillin was imported as a raw material from 1947 and the first medicaments containing penicillin, prepared in Portugal, were released into the commercial circuit in 1948. A laboratory had been established in 1942 by the Comissão Reguladora for the analytical verification of medicaments and medicinal products with the aim of certifying their quality and minimizing the number of products with no attested therapeutic efficacy. The number of medicaments analysed by this laboratory increased substantially from 72 in the year of its foundation (1942) to 2478 in 1954, including, after 1948, medicaments containing penicillin. The aim of the present paper was to elucidate the role of the Comissão Reguladora dos Produtos Químicos e Farmacêuticos in regulating and controlling the distribution of penicillin in Portugal during the 1940s and 1950s.

El control de la contaminación atmosférica en México (1970-1980): tensiones y coincidencias entre el sector salud y los industriales

Una vez que el gobierno mexicano adoptó las políticas y soluciones esbozadas por organismos internacionales y países altamente industrializados, para combatir la contaminación atmosférica, en la década de l970, se pueden observar las controversias, derivadas del marco legislativo y administrativo, entre el sector salud, gestor de la calidad del aire, y los industriales, sobre los que recaían buena parte de las acciones contra la contaminación. La hipótesis es la siguiente: Los problemas actuales que enfrenta México en el manejo de la contaminación atmosférica persisten debido a que, desde sus orígenes cada sector no solamente estaba poco convencido de la relevancia del problema, sino que cada uno defendió particulares conceptos de contaminación, de gestión y uso de la tecnología, mediados por intereses económicos y políticos, que impidieron soluciones de raíz. Para confirmar lo anterior se analizan los discursos tanto de la Subsecretaria de Mejoramiento del Ambiente de la Secretaria de Salubridad y Asistencia, como de la Cámara Nacional de la Industria de Transformación y de la Subsecretaria de Industria de la Secretaría de Industria y Comercio, durante la "I Reunión Nacional sobre Problemas de Contaminación Ambiental", realizada en 1973, donde públicamente expusieron sus prioridades gremiales. Los resultados de esta investigación apuntan a comprender porque a más de cuarenta años de la institucionalización del manejo de la contaminación atmosférica en México permanece un discurso reduccionista donde el parque vehicular sigue siendo el principal responsable.

In the l970s, the Mexican government adopted air pollution policies and solutions recommended by international organizations and applied in highly industrialized countries. However, this move was accompanied by controversies on the legislative and administrative framework involving healthcare, air quality management, and industrial sectors, with a large part of anti-pollution action being aimed at industry. Our hypothesis was that persistent problems with air pollution management in Mexico can be attributed to: the lack of belief in each sector on the importance of this issue from the very beginning; and the support by each sector for different concepts of pollution, management and the application of technology. Each stakeholder was driven by economic and political interests that prevented radical solutions. This hypothesis was tested by analysing speeches at the "1st National Meeting on Air Pollution Problems" in 1973, where the priorities of each sector were publicly stated by representatives from the Under-Secretariat for Environmental Improvement of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the National Chamber of Manufacturing Industry, and the Under-Secretariat of Industry of the Ministry of Industry and Commerce. Results of this research help to explain why, despite the institutionalization of air pollution management in Mexico for more than 40 years, a simplistic discourse still prevails in which the vehicle park is considered the main cause of the problem.