Occupational Therapy in Psychiatric Asylums in Bucharest, Eastern Europe, 1839-1919

Abstract

One of the first significant moments in the history of Romanian psychiatry had occurred in 1838 when a law was passed establishing that assistance for the mentally ill should become the responsibility of ‘Eforia spitalelor civile’ [Association of Civilian Hospitals], an institution which coordinated all civil medical units in the city of Bucharest. About 1839 the first specialized asylum for the insane, originally an Orthodox monastery (the Marcutza Asylum, then near Bucharest) opened its doors to individuals considered insane. The later appointed doctors tried to turn this asylum from a place of isolation and detention into a modern medical institution aimed at returning the cured insane individual back into society. They made sustained efforts to improve the methods of occupational therapy by organizing special workshops/workstations for the inpatients. This presentation provides an insight into the origins of modern clinical psychiatry and occupational therapy in Romania (UEFISCDI - PCCA - PNII − 215/2012).