Giorgio Antonucci
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Giorgio Antonucci (Lucca, 24 February 1933 – Florence, 18 November 2017) was an Italian physician, known for his questioning of the basis of psychiatry.


Biography

In 1963 Antonucci studied psychoanalysis with
Roberto Assagioli Roberto Assagioli (27 February 1888 – 23 August 1974) was an Italian psychiatrist and pioneer in the fields of humanistic and transpersonal psychology. Assagioli founded the psychological movement known as psychosynthesis, which is still being d ...
, the founder of
psychosynthesis Psychosynthesis is an approach to psychology that expands the boundaries of the field by identifying a deeper center of identity, which is the postulate of the Self. It considers each individual unique in terms of purpose in life, and places value ...
, and began to dedicate himself to psychiatry trying to solve the problems of the patients and avoiding hospitalisation and any kind of coercive method (mechanical, pharmacological, psychological). In 1968 he worked in Cividale del Friuli with
Edelweiss Cotti EDELWEISS (Expérience pour DEtecter Les WIMPs En Site Souterrain) is a dark matter search experiment located at the Modane Underground Laboratory in France. The experiment uses cryogenic detectors, measuring both the phonon and ionization signals ...
, in a ward of the city hospital that had been opened as an alternative to the mental hospitals -called Centro di Relazioni Umane entre for Human Relations In 1969 he worked at the psychiatric hospital of
Gorizia Gorizia (; sl, Gorica , colloquially 'old Gorizia' to distinguish it from Nova Gorica; fur, label= Standard Friulian, Gurize, fur, label= Southeastern Friulian, Guriza; vec, label= Bisiacco, Gorisia; german: Görz ; obsolete English ''Gorit ...
, directed by
Franco Basaglia Franco Basaglia (; 11 March 1924 29 August 1980) was an Italian psychiatrist, neurologist, professor who proposed the dismantling of psychiatric hospitals, pioneer of the modern concept of mental health, Italian psychiatry reformer, figurehead a ...
. From 1970 to 1972 he directed the mental health centre of Castelnuovo nei Monti in the province of
Reggio Emilia Reggio nell'Emilia ( egl, Rèz; la, Regium Lepidi), usually referred to as Reggio Emilia, or simply Reggio by its inhabitants, and known until 1861 as Reggio di Lombardia, is a city in northern Italy, in the Emilia-Romagna region. It has abou ...
. From 1973 to 1996 he worked in
Imola Imola (; rgn, Jômla or ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Bologna, located on the river Santerno, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. The city is traditionally considered the western entrance to the historical re ...
on the dismantling of several wards of the psychiatric hospitals ''Osservanza'' and ''Luigi Lolli'' under his direction. During the earthquake that struck Sicily in 1968 he worked as a physician for the Civil Protection Service of Florence. At the time of his death in 2017 Antonucci lived in
Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...
and collaborated with the Italian branch of the Citizens Commission on Human Rights, with the Centro di Relazioni Umane and with Radicali Italiani.


Thought on psychiatry

In his writings, Antonucci affirmed that theoretically he is close to the humanistic-existential perspective of Carl Rogers, the approaches focused on the critique of psychiatry (
Erving Goffman Erving Goffman (11 June 1922 – 19 November 1982) was a Canadian-born sociology, sociologist, Social psychology (sociology), social psychologist, and writer, considered by some "the most influential American sociologist of the twentieth ...
,
R. D. Laing Ronald David Laing (7 October 1927 – 23 August 1989), usually cited as R. D. Laing, was a Scottish psychiatrist who wrote extensively on mental illnessin particular, the experience of psychosis. Laing's views on the causes and treatment of ...
, David Cooper and
Thomas Szasz Thomas Stephen Szasz ( ; hu, Szász Tamás István ; 15 April 1920 – 8 September 2012) was a Hungarian-American academic and psychiatrist. He served for most of his career as professor of psychiatry at the State University of New York Upstate M ...
) and the critique of the psychiatric institution of Franco Basaglia. Szasz affirmed to agree with Antonucci on the concept of "person" of the so-called psychiatric patients: ''They are, like us, persons in all respects, that can be judged emotionally and in their "human condition"; "mental illness" does not make the patient "less than a man", and it is not necessary to appeal to a psychiatrist to "give them back humanity"'' He is the founder of the non-psychiatric approach to psychological suffering, that is based on the following propositions: # The involuntary commitment cannot be a scientific and medical approach to suffering, because it is based on violence against the patient's will. # The ethic of the dialogue is substituted for the ethic of coercion. The dialogue cannot take place unless the individuals recognise themselves as persons in a confrontation among peers. # The diagnosis is rejected as psychiatric prejudice that impedes to undertake the real psychological work on the suffering of people, due to the contradictions of nature and the conscience and because of the contradictions of society and the conflicts of living together. # Psychoactive drugs aim to sedate, to drug the person in order to improve the living conditions of the people that look after the psychiatric patient. All the other instruments that damage the person are refused, from the lobotomy to the castration (proposed by some people also in Italy with reference to sexual offenses), and every type of shock. # In order to criticize the institutions it is necessary to bring into question also the thought that created them. Antonucci posited that the "essence of psychiatry lies in an ideology of discrimination". He defended a ''“non-psychiatric thought, which considers psychiatry as an ideology without scientific content, a non-knowledge, whose aim is to annihilate people instead of trying to understand the difficulties of life, both individual and social, in order to defend people, change society and give life to an authentically new culture.”''


Giorgio Antonucci and Thomas Szasz

In the words of
Thomas Szasz Thomas Stephen Szasz ( ; hu, Szász Tamás István ; 15 April 1920 – 8 September 2012) was a Hungarian-American academic and psychiatrist. He served for most of his career as professor of psychiatry at the State University of New York Upstate M ...
, ''"Italian psychiatry has been incalculably enriched by Giorgio Antonucci. It is possible to consider him a good psychiatrist (whatever the meaning of the word): and that is true. It is also possible to consider him a good antipsychiatrist (whatever the meaning of the word): and that is just as certain. I prefer to consider him a respectable person that puts the respect for the so-called insane person above the respect for the profession. For that I send him my regards."''


Awards

On 26 February 2005 Antonucci received in Los Angeles the ''
Thomas Szasz Thomas Stephen Szasz ( ; hu, Szász Tamás István ; 15 April 1920 – 8 September 2012) was a Hungarian-American academic and psychiatrist. He served for most of his career as professor of psychiatry at the State University of New York Upstate M ...
Award.''


Works

* ''I pregiudizi e la conoscenza critica alla psichiatria ''(preface by Thomas S. Szasz), ed. Coop. Apache - 1986 * ''Psichiatria ieri ed oggi'', Enciclopedia Atlantica (European Book, Milano) - 1989 * ''Il pregiudizio psichiatrico'', Eleuthera - 1989 * ''La nave del paradiso, ''Spirali - 1990 * ''Freud e la psichiatria'', Enciclopedia Atlantica, European Book, Milano - 1990 * ''Aggressività'' Composizione in tre tempi in Uomini e lupi, Edizioni Eleuthera - 1990 * ''Psichiatria e cultura'', Enciclopedia Atlantica, European Book, Milano - 1991 * ''Contrappunti'', Roma: Sensibili alle foglie - 1994 * ''Critica al giudizio psichiatrico'', Sensibili alle Foglie - 1994 * ''Il giudice e lo psichiatra'', collection Volontà di Eleuthera - volume - Delitto e castigo - 1994 * (with Alessio Coppola) ''Il telefono viola. Contro i metodi della psichiatria'', Eleuthera - 1995 * ''Pensieri sul suicidio'', Eleuthera - 1996 * ''Il pregiudizio psichiatrico'', Eleuthera - 1998 * ''Le lezioni della mia vita. La medicina, la psichiatria, le istituzioni'', Spirali - 1999 * ''Pensieri sul suicidio,'' Eleuthera - 2002 * ''Il cervello. Atti del congresso internazionale Milano, dal 29 novembre al 1º dicembre 2002'' (it contains Antonucci's speech at the congress), Spirali - 2004 * ''Critica al giudizio psichiatrico'', Sensibili alle Foglie - 2005 * ''Diario dal manicomio. Ricordi e pensieri'', Spirali - 2006 * ''Igiene mentale e libero pensiero''. ''Giudizio e pregiudizio psichiatrici'', publication by the association "Umanità nova", Reggio Emilia - October 2007. * ''Foucault e l'antipsichiatria. Intervista a Giorgio Antonucci''."Diogene Filosofare Oggi" N. 10 - Anno 2008 - Con «IL DOSSIER: 30 anni dalla legge Basaglia» * ''Corpo - "Intervista di Augusta Eniti a Giorgio Antonucci", Multiverso"'' Università degli studi di Udine, n.07 08 . 2008 * ''Conversazione con Giorgio Antonucci'' edited by Erveda Sansi. Critical Book - I quaderni dei saperi critici - Milano 16.04.2010. S.p.A. Leoncavallo. * (with other authors) ''La libertà sospesa'', Fefè editore, Roma - 2012 * (contributions by Giorgio Antonucci and Ruggero Chinaglia) ''Della Mediazione'' by Elisa Ruggiero, Aracne - 2013 *
El prejuicio psiquiátrico
' l pregiudizio psichiatrico introductions by Thomas Szasz and Massimo Paolini, translation and editorial coordination by Massimo Paolini, Katakrak, Pamplona, 2018 - * ''Il pregiudizio psichiatrico'', with a preface by Thomas Szasz, Ed. Elèuthera, 2020,


Bibliography

* ''Dossier Imola e legge 180,'' Alberto Bonetti,
Dacia Maraini Dacia Maraini (; born November 13, 1936) is an Italian writer. Maraini's work focuses on women's issues, and she has written numerous plays and novels. She has won awards for her work, including the Formentor Prize for ''L'età del malessere'' ...
, Giuseppe Favati, Gianni Tadolini, Idea books - Milano 1979. * ''Antipsykiatri eller Ikke - Psykiatri, ''Svend Bach, Edizioni Amalie Copenaghen - 1989 * ''Atlanti della filosofia. Il pensiero anarchico. Alle radici della libertà''. Edizioni Demetra - Colognola ai Colli. Verona - December 1997. . * ''Sanità obbligata'', Claudia Benatti, preface by Alex Zanotelli, Macro Edizioni, Diegaro di Cesena - October 2004. * ''Le urla dal silenzio. La paura e i suoi linguaggi'', Chiara Gazzola, Interviste, Aliberti Editore, Reggio Emilia - 2006. * ''Il 68 visto dal basso. Esercizi di memoria il '68'', Giuseppe Gozzini, Asterios editore Trieste - November 2008. * ''Dentro Fuori: testimonianze di ex-infermieri degli ospedali psichiatrici di Imola,'' edited by Roberta Giacometti, Bacchilega Editori - 2009. * ''La parola fine. Diario di un suicidio'', Roberta Tatafiore, Rizzoli - April 2010. * ''La mia mano destra'', Donato Salvia, Bonfirraro Editore, Barrafranca-Enna - May 2011 * ''La grande festa'',
Dacia Maraini Dacia Maraini (; born November 13, 1936) is an Italian writer. Maraini's work focuses on women's issues, and she has written numerous plays and novels. She has won awards for her work, including the Formentor Prize for ''L'età del malessere'' ...
, Rizzoli - November 2011 - * ''L'inganno psichiatrico'', Roberto Cestari, Libres s.r.l. Casa Editrice, Milano - May 2012 * ''Che cos'è l'Antipsichiatria? - Storia della nascita del movimento di critica alla psichiatria'', Francesco Codato Ed. Psiconline, October 2013, * ''La Repubblica dei matti'', John Foot, Ed. Feltrinelli, November 2014. * ''Encyclopedia of Theory and Practice in Psychotherapy and Counseling'', José A. Fadul, Lulu Press Inc., London, * ''The Man Who Closed the Asylums: Franco Basaglia and the Revolution in Mental Health Care,'' John Foot, Verso Books, New York, 2015, * ''Le radici culturali della diagnosi'', Pietro Barbetta, Meltemi Editore srl, 2003, * ''La chiave comune. Esperienze di lavoro presso l'ospedale psichiatrico Luigi Lolli di Imola'', Giovanni Angioli, ED. La Mandragola Editrice, 11/2016. * ''Forse non sarà domani: Invenzioni a due voci su Luigi Tenco'', Mario Campanella, Gaspare Palmieri, LIT EDIZIONI, 2017,
''Giorgio Antonucci: una vida por la liberación de quienes no tienen poder''
Massimo Paolini, El Salto, 1 December 2017
''Giorgio Antonucci: a life for the liberation of the powerless''
Massimo Paolini,
Open Democracy openDemocracy is an independent media platform and news website based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 2001, openDemocracy states that through reporting and analysis of social and political issues, they seek to "challenge power and encourage de ...
, 6 December 2017
''Recomponer la imagen, cuestionando el poder'' reface to the book ‘El prejuicio psiquiátrico’">''Recomponer la imagen, cuestionando el poder'' [preface to the book ‘El prejuicio psiquiátrico’
/nowiki> Massimo Paolini, :es:Perspectivas anómalas · ciudad · arquitectura · ideas">Perspectivas anómalas , ciudad · arquitectura · ideas, 2018 * ''Críticas y alternativas en psiquiatría'', Rafael Huertas et al., Los Libros de la Catarata, 2018,
Conversación entre Guillermo Vera y Massimo Paolini acerca de la publicación del libro ''El prejuicio psiquiátrico'' in Perspectivas anómalas , ciudad · arquitectura · ideas
2019 * ''Welcome to Arkham Asylum: Essays on Psychiatry and the Gotham City Institution'', Sharon Packer, M.D., Daniel R. Fredrick, McFarland, 2019 * ''The Italian Psychiatric Experience'', Alessandro De Risio, Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2019 * ''Critical Neuroscience and Philosophy: A Scientific Re-Examination of the Mind-Body Problem'', David Låg Tomasi, Springer Nature, 2020 * ''Madness in Contemporary British Theatre. Resistances and Representations'', Jon Venn, Springer, 2021,


References


Interviews

* Diagonal (newspaper), Periódico Diagonal nº 250:
Antonucci: La locura no tiene ningún significado filosófico
', interview to Giorgio Antonucci by Massimo Paolini (see 'External links'). The interview has been republished in '' CTXT'' nº 28, Infolibre and
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.
Psichiatria e potere
interview to Giorgio Antonucci by Moreno Paulon, in «A Rivista Anarchica», 46, No. 408, June 2016.


External links


Premio Giorgio Antonucci

Giorgio Antonucci interviewed on Vimeo
(Italian)
Giorgio Antonucci speaks about Franco Basaglia
(Italian)
Giorgio Antonucci speaks about psychiatry
(Italian)
Giorgio Antonucci on ADHD
(Italian)
Interview to Giorgio Antonucci
(Italian)
Giorgio Antonucci speaks about Thomas Szasz
(Italian)
Giorgio Antonucci. Il pregiudizio psichiatrico , Full text of the book (Italian)

Gli occhi non li vedono (English subtitles)


an
Perspectivas anómalas , ciudad · arquitectura · ideas
(Spanish) *
The Man Who Closed the Asylums: Franco Basaglia and the Revolution in Mental Health Care
'' review by Dr Peter Barham, Wellcome Unit for the History of Medicine, University of Oxford * UK Parliament,

' * ttps://web.archive.org/web/20180412042643/http://www.archiviodistoria.psicologia1.uniroma1.it/intervista%20Antonucci.mp3 Università La Sapienza, Rome, Interview to Giorgio Antonucci (audio, Italian) {{DEFAULTSORT:Antonucci, Giorgio 1933 births 2017 deaths Italian psychiatrists People from Lucca Anti-psychiatry Italian libertarians Italian humanists Deinstitutionalisation in Italy Theorists in psychiatry Psychiatry academics Social critics Italian writers Italian poets