L’assistenza agli ammalati di mente in Sardegna e nell’area del Medio Campidano tra XIX e XX secolo

Abstract

In the late 18th and early 19th century, the mentally ill in southern Sardinia were usually hosted in the old St. Anthony's hospital in Cagliari dating back to the 15th century. In Middle Campidano, a rural hospital in Siddi was active from 1860 and hospitalized patients with mental problems or "hysteria." Contemporarily, in St. John of God's, the new hospital of Cagliari, a modern psychiatric ward was opened. Eventually, in 1907, the "Villa Clara" lunatic asylum was inaugurated in Cagliari, where the so-called 'freaks' were hosted; a farm was built there, whose care was entrusted to a selected group of patients. In 1997 the mental hospital was closed and patients from Middle Campidano were taken in charge by the n.6 USL (Local Health Unit) in Sanluri.