ABSTRACT
The asylum thought is still present in society giving a place to the ‘insane’ which historically provides the exclusion and devaluation of their knowledge. It is up to mental health professionals to also work with those discourses to affirm the humanity of people in psychological distress. Therefore, this research sought to investigate whether the audiovisual production device contributes to the health and visibility of mental health patients. Participants are users of the Caps II Capilé (Psychosocial Care Centers) – which is a public service of mental health – and the Viver Group, who are part of the process of preparing and sharing the documentary ‘Portrayal of daily Brazilian mental health’. The qualitative research used the participant observation method and semi-structured interviews, submitted to Content Analysis resulting in the following categories: ‘encountering the place of madness’, ‘documentary production process’, ‘visibility production’, ‘resignification of the self’, ‘resignification of the place of madness’ and ‘clinic and art’. The documentary, as a clinical device, contributes to the deinstitutionalization of madness and suffering by deconstructing crystallized places for agency of new subjectivities.
KEYWORDS
Mental health; Video recording; Deinstitutionalization