Abstract

LOPEZ ALVAREZ, Marcelino. Looking back to keep moving forward. A critical reflection on the past and present of mental health care (I). Rev. Asoc. Esp. Neuropsiq. [online]. 2019, vol.39, n.136, pp.89-116.  Epub Sep 21, 2020. ISSN 2340-2733.  https://dx.doi.org/10.4321/s0211-57352019000200005.

This is the first of two papers that seek to make a critical assessment of the main theoretical and technical aspects related to mental health care developed in the last six or seven decades. It attempts to situate the problems of mental health care, and, within them, those of psychiatry, as opposed to two types of positions considered inadequate: the dominant biomedical reductionism and those of some new “antipsychiatric” tendencies, both of which, although formally opposite, oversimplify, in my opinion, the alternative vision, with the risk of leaving aside basic aspects of our disciplines and professional practices. In this first paper, a general overview is provided, some previous philosophical positions are reviewed, and some of the main implications of integrating mental health in the health field are critically analyzed.

Keywords : Community mental health care; Biomedical reductionism; Critical psychiatry; Psychopathology; Epidemiology; Evidence-based care.

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