The objective of this historical study, based on social history and developed in 2008 was to identify Mental Health Brazilian Federal Legislation from 1935 to 2001 and analyze treatment modes used on patients with mental disorders. Thirty-six legal displays were accessed. From 1935 to 1990, Brazilian legislation treated administrative questions in mental health with references to terms like psychopath, mental alienation, and psychopathic reactions, which are now considered pejorative and prejudicial. The results of the legal displays show that in recent years mental health assistance has suffered several transformations. In the period from 1991 to 2001, treatment modes have focused on the care model which seeks a rupture from the hospital-centered model and which emphasizes humanization, social reinsertion, the preservation and rescue of the citizenship of people with mental disorders, as well as the evaluation of these services in order to guarantee these patients' rights.
Mental health; Legislation; Treatment
