Abstract
Through analysis of the medical charts from an institution for treatment of the insane run by an association of Kardecist spiritists, it is possible to identify the various perceptions and strategies for treatment and social control of insanity developed by different sectors of the Brazilian population in the first half of the twentieth century in the Brazilian countryside. The multidimensional aspect of the experience of insanity is stressed, as it is a sociocultural event capable of different analyses and interpretations by heterogeneous groups of social actors, who interpret it based on their own systems of meaning and understanding.
Highlights
Through analysis of the medical charts from an institution for treatment of the insane run by an association of Kardecist spiritists, it is possible to identify the various perceptions and strategies for treatment and social control of insanity developed by different sectors of the Brazilian population in the first half of the twentieth century in the Brazilian countryside
In insane asylum medical charts, the discourse on insanity, whether psychiatric or spiritistic, is presented in a manner different from that found in the texts that address the subject from a strictly theoretical point of view and attempt to produce an interpretative system to make the phenomenon of insanity intelligible
Another report that demonstrates how often healers and herbal doctors were sought out in the daily reality of the Brazilian population, in addition to providing evidence of the strong role played by these individuals in the understanding of health and disease created by popular culture during the period, is found in the medical chart for patient M.A.S., a 35 year old married woman living in the city of Uberaba at the time of her admission
Summary
In insane asylum medical charts, the discourse on insanity, whether psychiatric or spiritistic, is presented in a manner different from that found in the texts that address the subject from a strictly theoretical point of view and attempt to produce an interpretative system to make the phenomenon of insanity intelligible. In these medical charts, this discourse has been operationalized by the medical-administrative personnel of the institution in their practical form of analysis, interpretation and control of insanity, in addition to being tied to individual, unique cases that exemplify the daily experience of insanity through the application of this discourse to specific situations. I analyzed the medical histories for all medical charts during this period, with a few especially interesting cases selected to describe the ways in which the inhabitants of the region sought to identify and treat insanity
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