The shade of the chestnut tree:

between the asylum expressions and the walls of loneliness

Abstract

In the current context of Psychiatric Reform, it is necessary to think about how the mental asylum paradigm has been updated in mental health services and beyond. In this paper, it is proposed to discuss such aspects based on the experience report of a resident in a Psychiatry Infirmary at a General Hospital in a large city. To this end, an analogy is made with scenes from the book A Hundred Years of Solitude, by Gabriel Garcia Márquez, to comprehend the parts involved in this process. Thus, it is understood the possible consequences of speeches and asylum practices for the users of the mental health services, which impact on their subjectivity and construction of their place within society.