Abstract
This article briefly assesses the historical trajectory of psychiatric institutions in the Middle East. It underlines a key observation: the persistence and expansion of psychiatric institutionalisation, specifically in the Arab world. In contrast to the deinstitutionalisation that eventually closed large psychiatric hospitals in the 1960s and 1970s, notably in Europe and North America, psychiatric hospitals have continued to grow in size in the Arab world. This absence of deinstitutionalisation marks a major departure from how psychiatry developed in the West, which is worth reflecting on if we are to understand the current crumbling infrastructure of in-patient psychiatric facilities in the Arab region.
Highlights
MSc, MD, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow, Society of Fellows in the Humanities, Columbia University and Invited Researcher, École Normale Supérieure, Paris, France
In contrast to the deinstitutionalisation that eventually closed large psychiatric hospitals in the 1960s and 1970s, notably in Europe and North America, psychiatric hospitals have continued to grow in size in the Arab world
This absence of deinstitutionalisation marks a major departure from how psychiatry developed in the West, which is worth reflecting on if we are to understand the current crumbling infrastructure of in-patient psychiatric facilities in the Arab region
Summary
MSc, MD, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow, Society of Fellows in the Humanities, Columbia University and Invited Researcher, École Normale Supérieure, Paris, France. This article briefly assesses the historical trajectory of psychiatric institutions in the Middle East It underlines a key observation: the persistence and expansion of psychiatric institutionalisation, in the Arab world. In contrast to the deinstitutionalisation that eventually closed large psychiatric hospitals in the 1960s and 1970s, notably in Europe and North America, psychiatric hospitals have continued to grow in size in the Arab world This absence of deinstitutionalisation marks a major departure from how psychiatry developed in the West, which is worth reflecting on if we are to understand the current crumbling infrastructure of in-patient psychiatric facilities in the Arab region. While mental illness continues to be stigmatised in the Middle East,[4] what is more flagrant is the crumbling in-patient psychiatric care that is increasingly visible across the Arab region, partly due to neglect and partly to war. The downfall of Al-Fanar reflects a larger story of state failure, ossified institutions, collapsed infrastructure, aborted modernisation projects and lack of visionary alternatives across most of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region
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