Loucura e sanidade psíquica, duas faces do desenvolvimento humano – alguns aspectos historiográficos (Brasil, 1808-2008)

Abstract

This paper aims to present and discuss some aspects of the historiography on the madness in Brazil, the creation of asylums, since the mid-nineteenth century to the dawn of the present century, when the neurosciences prevail and hardly let us glimpse ways more humane of treatment of the insane. As counterpoint to this, we briefly present some theoretical aspects in the practice of the Analytical Psychology, psychological field that emphasizes the mental health of the individual and not of the illness, and points out the 'individuation process' as the driving force of healthy human development.