Relationships between an emergency service and a center for mental health Núcleo de Atenção Psicossocial (NAPS) at nortwest zone in Santos, São Paulo: psychiatric paradigm and psychiatric reform

Abstract

This paper shows the relationship between two local health services in Santos, São Paulo, the northwest zone PS, an emergency service, and the Núcleo de Atenção Psicossocial (NAPSI), a center for mental health. The document highlights the revolutionary transformation, according the Italian psychiatrist reform, symbolized by the end of asylum hospitalization and its influence on attendance to mentally ill patients by PS's emergency staff. Because lack of training and preconceptions, the PS's staff, used to act by a medicai model, treats the mentally ill with no respect. The article shows that the interchanges between PS and NAPS have contributed to PS's staff gain more comprehension about the mental disease problem, but also points to the limits of this progress.