The history of mental health policy in Turkey: tradition, transition and transformation

Bilir M. K., ARTVİNLİ F.

HISTORY OF PSYCHIATRY, vol.32, no.1, pp.3-19, 2021 (SCI-Expanded) identifier identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 32 Issue: 1
  • Publication Date: 2021
  • Doi Number: 10.1177/0957154x20966178
  • Journal Name: HISTORY OF PSYCHIATRY
  • Journal Indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED), Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, International Bibliography of Social Sciences, Periodicals Index Online, American History and Life, EMBASE, Historical Abstracts, MEDLINE, MLA - Modern Language Association Database, Psycinfo
  • Page Numbers: pp.3-19
  • Acibadem Mehmet Ali Aydinlar University Affiliated: Yes

Abstract

This article offers a brief history and the evolution of mental health policy in Turkey. It aims to analyse how mental health policies were transformed and why certain policies were introduced at specific times. The modern history of mental health policy is divided into three periods: the institutionalization of psychiatry and hospital-based mental health services; the introduction of community-based mental healthcare services; and lastly, the policy of deinstitutionalization after the 1980s. These periods have been categorized in a way that basically coincides with Turkey's modern political history.