The Role of Education in Mental Health. Considerations of Professionals from a Psychiatric Clinic Regarding its Implications in the Process of Community Integration for Former Patients

AbstractThe cultural differences, subjective assessments, competing professional theories affect how “mental health” is defined (WHO 2001), and implicitly, how is addressed the process of recovery of persons with mental disorders. Therefore, we explore the psychiatrists’ views regarding the current understanding of mental health in a qualitative design, through 12 semi-structured interviews with respondents from a psychiatric hospital in Iasi, Romania. Results cover their patients’ reinsertion in society, including the transition process from the psychiatric hospital to the family or community and adaptation to social norms. Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) as method, the themes found addressed the understanding of the mental illness, family support, community reintegration process, and patients’ particularities. The views of respondents indicate a set of attitudes and understandings of mental disorders, restricted in current practice to providing medical treatment, with little or no support from social services or community, affecting the process of recovery and reintegration in community