Mental distress is increasing, but services are increasingly less effective. Never before has it been necessary to recall the lessons of the great psychiatrist. 100 years after the birth of Franco Basaglia which occurs on March 11th, VITA dedicates the issue of the magazine to a major investigation into mental distress in Italy under the title “Basaglia where are you?” with all the numbers, the flaws in the management system, the good practices to take as an example. With a reconstruction of how the Basaglia revolution was possible through its places and its words reread by those who were protagonists of that season with him.
In the first chapter Luca Iacovone guides us through “Crystal Asylums” documenting, thanks also to Matteo Riva’s infographics, the paradox of the increase in psychiatric suffering and the decrease in care. In fact, in recent years in Italy the signs of an increase in psychiatric disorders have been multiplying, especially in the most vulnerable groups. A phenomenon in the face of which services seem to have lost their Basaglia compass.
We instead titled the second chapter “Citizenship the most effective therapy”. You will find a very careful selection of good practices implemented by third sector entities that tell a possible world on four crucial themes for the care and inclusion of people with mental suffering: work, housing, art & sport, teenagers.
Finally the third chapter, the most biographical one “This is how a revolution is born”: on 11 March 1924 the most important Italian psychiatrist in history was born in Venice. Thanks to Veronica Rossi we returned to her places guided by the words of her heirs, such as Giovanna Del Giudice, Franco Rotelli and Peppe dell’Acqua. The section ends with a useful bibliography and filmography for those wishing to deepen their knowledge of this great character.