REPORT FROM THE “DOCTOR CARLOS FEDERICO MORA” MENTAL

HEALTH HOSPITAL
HISTORY

The Federico Mora Mental Health Hospital is an institution that has been
created for the treatment of patients with mental illnesses, its history spans over
one hundred years, in which it has provided help and care to people with mental
illnesses. It is a department of the Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance
that currently cares for more than four hundred patients, whose allocated budget
currently amounts to approximately forty-five million quetzales. It has around three
hundred beds for patients admitted to said hospital. Throughout history, it has
undergone a series of changes in terms of location, patient care, the name by
which it has been called, among other changes that have been significant for
people in need of care and their families.

Your start

At the beginning of the 19th century there was no center that cared for
patients with mental illnesses, so the majority were on the streets begging for alms.
Most families did not want to care for them, a problem that still occurs today.
Hence, Mr. Luis Arturo Pavón, known for being an altruistic person, donated the
land for the construction of a mental health center known as “Demented Asylum”,
which was inaugurated by the President of the Republic of that time, Manuel
Lisandro Barillas.

In the year 1890, the first mentally ill patients were received in this center.
The construction has a German design, which cost two thousand quetzales and its
operation depended on charity.

In the 20th century

The first studies on mental illnesses in Guatemala were carried out by

Doctor Miguel Fernando Molina, who specialized in neurology. Later, we met
Doctor Carlos Federico Mora, who was called the first psychiatrist in Guatemala.
His studies led him to be Director of the National Psychiatric Hospital around 1923

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to 1927, to whom we owe the German design of said construction for having
carried out his studies in Germany.

In 1960, the neuropsychiatric hospital, as it was called at that time, was

consumed by flames from a fire that caused the death of several patients. A few
years later the Minister of Health and Social Assistance invited psychiatry
professionals to determine the possibility of creating another mental health
hospital, which was known as Hospital Periférico.

The foundation of the Mental Health Hospital that currently operates was
carried out in 1972 and in 1975 the name Carlos Federico Mora Hospital was given
in honor of the doctor considered the first psychiatrist in Guatemala. Unfortunately,
in 1982, when the Head of State Efraín Ríos Montt was in power and by order of
the Ministry of Health, the patients of the Neuro Psychiatric Hospital were
transferred to the facilities of the Federico Mora Hospital. This caused an increase
in the population of patients undergoing treatment and in a certain way affected the
provision of better treatment, since previously, talks were even given to the families
of people with mental illnesses regarding how to treat them and many of them
could return to their families, following treatment.

Currently, the hospital has faced a series of problems, among them is the
one that emerged in 2012, for which the Inter-American Commission on Human
Rights sued the State of Guatemala for the conditions in which the establishment is
located. On the other hand, in 2014, the channel called BBC made a report
regarding the conditions in which the mentally ill were found. In said report, it was
mentioned that the place is in deplorable conditions and there is poor patient care;
However, this report will mention what was observed during the visit to said
hospital center.

DESCRIPTION OF MENTAL HEALTH STATUS AND ABILITY TO CARE FOR

MENTALLY ILL PEOPLE

Aptitude to care for mentally ill people:

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 During the visit made to the Doctor Carlos Federico Mora Mental Health
Hospital, the facilities that comprise said hospital center were observed, which are
considered insufficient to care for all the mentally ill people who are in that place,
since the population of people with Mental illnesses increase day by day.
Likewise, the staff in charge of the care and attention of the mentally ill is few;
However, it is considered that the few personnel who are caring for them do
everything possible to care for them in the best way, but since there are so many of
them, it is difficult to provide more adequate care for them.

There is a specific area within the hospital for patients who are in serious
condition, that is, those who are in the most severe moment of their illness. In the
area designated for men, there are around seventy men, with two nurses in charge
of caring for them at night. The Director of the center, who was in charge of
showing and publicizing the facilities, commented that in the month of January of
this year, there was an incident in which they took over that area, requesting
various things, and that fortunately everything was resolved. resolved. But he
highlighted the need to have more personnel to control them. Although it is true,
funds are allocated for the hospital, they are insufficient since the expenses they
cover include medicines, energy, water, food and other needs.

In the area intended for women who present the highest point of some
mental illness, they are in total seclusion, since women are more violent than men,
and have many emotional problems, which is why they could not be admitted. to
that area. Likewise, it was possible to enter the other pavilions, where there are
patients with different mental conditions, some completely insane and others who
are quite sane when spoken to or approached.

Another serious problem, which was emphasized by the Director and which
could be observed during the visit, is that there are many people who are subject to
criminal proceedings, and who are in the hospital by order of a competent judge.
The problem is that many of those imprisoned for this reason do not have mental
illnesses and that when they are sent by court order they cannot be rejected.
These people live with the mentally ill and often cause them physical or sexual
harm. Furthermore, they learn to act like the sick to evade justice, since by
observing them daily they learn their behavior.

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 These people subject to criminal proceedings need to be guarded by agents
of the National Civil Police, who are at the scene. However, the agents should be
close to the guarded person; they are around the hospital resting, reading the
newspaper or sleeping. This situation can be observed with the naked eye upon
arrival, and on rare occasions they begin to look for the person in their custody.

In addition to this, many patients could lead a normal or more or less normal
life with their families, but most of them have no interest in their relatives returning
home, because they do not pay attention and care to them, or because They don't
know how to take care of them. The director of the center commented that when
they were less patient and prisoners were not sent to that facility, advice could be
given to families regarding the care and attention of their relatives. Unfortunately,
currently this is not possible. Likewise, the resources it has do not make this
possibility viable, since in addition to the patients who are living in the center, there
are Every day they receive many patients who receive free medication but who live
outside of it.

It is necessary that authorities and other people pay attention to people with
mental illnesses, and provide them with more financial help, infrastructure and
especially, personnel who can provide them with better care. As well as making
donations that help with the operation of said center.

Mental health of patients:

There are patients with numerous mental illnesses, and care is provided
according to the center's capabilities. There are sessions conducted by
psychiatrists or psychologists who help them face their illness, listen to them,
advise them and provide them with the appropriate medication for their mental
condition. Well, not only do they need medications or a diagnosis, they also need
to be heard and feel that they are understood.

Among the mental illnesses they presented were: Schizophrenia,

Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, among others. In addition, they are placed in the wards
depending on their mental illness, sex and the illness they suffer from. They try to
serve them in the best possible way, according to the center's possibilities, but it is

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difficult because of the few employees who work there and because of the other
problems that have been mentioned above.

THE LIFE OF A MENTALLY SICK NEXT TO HIS FAMILY

The life of a mentally ill person with his family would be very different from
what many of them live in the mental health hospital. Well, with their families they
would be better cared for and would receive the affection of their relatives. This
situation could be achieved if talks or advice could be given to families, but this
does not happen at present.

Another important aspect is that probably not all patients are suitable to live
with their families and this will depend on the diagnosis or evaluation carried out by
the psychiatrists who are in charge of evaluating them. If they consider that they
can adapt to the life of their families. It should be noted that many families do not
want to have them with them, so they cannot be forced to have them, with the
center being the one who takes care of them. Although this problem really should
not occur, it was made known by the director of the hospital.

Therefore, your stay with the family must be carefully evaluated and taking
into account the aforementioned aspects.