Erlebte Psychiatrie 1946-1986

Christian Müller grew up in the psychiatric clinic of Münsingen, where his father, Max Müller, was the medical director. Having been in direct contact with mentally ill individuals from a young age, he recounts his journey through Swiss psychiatry from firsthand experience, vividly and empathetically. As a reader, one is shaken by the largely bleak conditions in psychiatric clinics during the 1940s and early 1950s. It was only gradually that psychotherapeutic, social-psychiatric, and pharmacological treatment approaches were developed that eased the fate of the patients. Müller, along with Gaetano Benedetti, was a pioneer in the psychoanalytic therapy of schizophrenic patients and in the introduction of sectorized care structures. In Lausanne, he introduced occupational therapy as well as art and music therapy. He describes his experiences modestly.