Los pacientes del Manicomio La Castañeda y sus diagnósticos. Una propuesta desde la historia cuantitativa (México, 1910-1968)

Abstract

During its 58 years in operation (1910-1968), the Manicomio General La Castaneda housed 61,480 people. In this paper, we present an overview of the general characteristic of the patients based on a 20% sample of the overall population. We divided the text in three sections: in the first part we argue that the history of the institution comprises three distinctive periods characterized by demographic changes that coincide with administrative reforms. In the second, we present the general characteristics of La Castaneda's psychiatric population. Finally, we describe the most salient demographic changes, which stemmed either from socio-political events, technological innovations or clinical transformations. Some of the most salient results of the analysis of the sample show that the inmate population had short periods of hospitalization in the asylum (an average of 18 month), as well as a lower mortality rate (24.2%) in comparison to contemporary mental institutions. Families played a fundamental role in the care of their mad relatives, which accounts for the relatively short periods of hospitalization as well as the low death rates. Consequently, for this particular institution, chronic patients weren't such a serious problem as believed.