This article outlines the history of the various interpretations of madness. This provides an insight into the history of mental health, from initial mythical explanations to more rational modern approaches, from the tolerance of difference to its characterization as disease. The idea of treatable and possibly curable mental illnesses led to the emergence of psychiatric hospitals, which became symbols of incarceration and exclusion from society. Recurrent reports of violence and human rights abuses have, since the 1970s, fuelled calls to reform this model of psychiatric care and led to greater emphasis on care in the community, civil rights, and respect for the subjective and uniquely personal nature of mental illness. As a result, Brazilian law now recognizes the rights and duties both of the mentally ill and of the doctors who care for them, thereby ensuring respect for full human dignity, including the patient´s right not to be subjected against his or her will to compulsory treatment.
Mental health; Human rights; Commitment of Mentally Ill