Beyond myths and interpretations

the complex and painful reality of madness according to Le Guillant and Bonnafé

Abstract

The article aims to highlight the relevance and originality of the analysis by French psychiatrists Louis Le Guillant and Lucién Bonnafé, through an immanent analysis of their article, which is being translated into Portuguese for the first time, titled The Condition of the Patient in the Psychiatric Hospital. The significance of the research is emphasized as the authors reveal aspects of treatment in psychiatric institutions in France, highlighting the roles of various stakeholders: patients, professionals, managers, and society. They also link mental illness conditions with broader life conditions, arguing from the inseparability of social conditions and individual human drama to address health production. In this same movement, they uncover aspects of suffering and illness, challenging hegemonic conceptions in the field, such as theories about madness and its origins, moving beyond mythical notions. The authors do not deny the clinical dimension of mental illness but, at the same time, do not confine themselves to psychiatric nosology. They provide resources for ongoing debates that point to the need for transformation not only in health treatment conditions but also in living conditions and social relations.