The Dr. Giorgio Antonucci Story

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http://www.cchr.org/doctors/eng/page19.htm

 

" Heart of Life "

 

The Dr. Giorgio Antonucci Story

 

 

Dr. Giorgio Antonucci used communication, physical exams and standard

medical treatment to help schizophrenic and " incurable " patients who

had been cruelly restrained for decades at Imola psychiatric asylum in

Italy. He taught his patients living skills and organized concerts and

trips to Rome as part of their therapy. Subsequently, many were

discharged from Imola to lead successful lives.

 

 

Courage could be described as persistence to overcome all obstacles

and communication as the heart of life. These two qualities were

displayed in abundance by a remarkable physician, Dr. Giorgio

Antonnuci, who literally helped to return life to hundreds of patients

lost in the squalor and degradation of Italian psychiatric hospitals.

 

Dr. Antonucci firmly believed in the value of human life and that

communication, not enforced incarceration and inhumane physical

treatments, could heal even the most seriously disturbed mind.

 

In the Institute of Osservanza (Observance), in Imola, Italy, Dr.

Antonucci volunteered to run the most dangerous ward, Unit 14, where

44 schizophrenic women, most of whom had been incarcerated for many

years, were so seriously disturbed, they had been continuously

strapped to their beds (some up to 20 years). The hospital was noted

for its intimidating high walls, barred windows, iron doors, and beds

that were bolted to the floor. Straightjackets were used, as well as

plastic masks to keep patients from biting. There were three " choices "

of treatment: electroshock, insulin shock or neuroleptics.

 

Giorgio AntonucciWorking sometimes 24 hours a day, and ignoring the

protests of nurses, Dr. Antonucci began to release the women from

their confinement. He recalls: " I found myself in the situation of

having to confront them personally. " And confront them he did,

spending many, many hours each day talking with them and " penetrating

their deliriums and anguish. " In every case, Dr. Antonucci listened to

stories of years of desperation and institutional suffering. His

" treatment " was a quiet and calming influence for the patient. In

fact, under his guidance, Unit 14 transformed itself from the most

violent ward in the facility to its calmest.

 

Under Dr. Antonucci's leadership, all psychiatric " treatments " were

abandoned, replaced by open communication. After a few months, his

" dangerous " patients were all free, walking quietly in the asylum

garden (except a few whose legs were wasted from being tied down for

too many years, but who were later also rehabilitated and able to

walk). As for the hospital, Dr. Antonucci transformed it into a

residence—each patient had the key to her room. In the end, it was not

possible to distinguish a former patient from a nurse.

 

Between 1973 and 1996, Dr. Antonucci repeatedly dismantled some of the

most oppressive, concentration camp-like psychiatric wards, by

ensuring that patients were treated compassionately, with respect, and

without the use of drugs.

 

Today, thanks to Dr. Antonucci, hundreds of abused and neglected

people in Italian asylums have had their dignity and their lives

restored. Relocated to more humane environments, many have been taught

how to read and write, and even how to work and care for themselves

for the first time in their lives.

 

Teresa was testament to Dr. Antonucci's success. Institutionalized for

years, tied to a bed in her small room and imprisoned in her tortured

mind, she lived her remaining years free of all coercive psychiatric

restraint. And she knew, with absolute certainty, that Dr. Antonucci

was the " heart of life. "

 

" Against tremendous opposition from his peers, and without the use of

drugs or coercion, Dr. Antonucci salvaged the lives of hundreds of

patients deemed incurable and institutional cases. Today, many of his

patients continue to live and work in the community. He is an

inspiration to medicine. "

 

— Roberto Cestari, M.D., Italy, 2002