The nursing education in psychiatric nursing and in the area of chemical dependency guides the discussion of this article towards the complexity of problems related to the nursing, mental health, psychiatric and alcohol and drugs teaching. It is a literature review where the authors compiled primary and secondary sources on the theme. Analyses and reflections on historical crossings that permeate the history of the psychiatric nursing and chemical dependency in Brazil were performed on the bibliographic material. The results point to an evolution of the theme alcohol and drugs given the magnitude of the problem in the contemporaneous society. Regarding the psychiatric nursing, the teaching presents changes due to the historical evolution of the psychiatry that must be considered during the education of the nursing professional. Both themes had common and distinctive points according to the context in which they were analyzed.
Psychiatric Nursing; History of Nursing; Teaching