When in Rome . . . Museo della Mente

A revamped museum in Italy is providing a hands-on and heads-on approach to mental illness. The Museo della Mente (Mind's Museum), which originally opened in 2000, is located on the outskirts of Rome in a former psychiatric hospital that closed in 1978. At that time, a law was passed in Italy that drew patients into mainstream society, "substituting community services for institutionalized care of many of the mentally ill."¹

When it opened, the Mind's Museum was intended to provide an historic glimpse into the world of the psychiatric patient. Today, the museum still operates on this premise, albeit through a somewhat different approach. In addition to a recent major technological overhaul, the museum now houses several interactive exhibits that make visitors feel as if they are in a psychiatric hospital. In one exhibit, a photograph of the visitor is projected on a board with photos of past patients at the institution who recount their life stories through taped monologues. In another, visitors sit at a desk with their hands cupped over their ears to hear whispers and unseen voices. The result? For a brief moment, visitors experience firsthand the world of mental illness, thus helping to dispel myths surrounding it.

The Mind's Museum is not merely a hands-on, participatory, high-tech exhibit of mental illness. Under the leadership of Pompeo Martelli, this former psychiatric complex houses current national health system offices along with "the largest historical psychiatric archive in Italy . . . preserving more than 250,000 case histories of patients who were treated there since around 1850."¹ Using new software developed by Martelli's staff, "other Italian psychiatric archives have been following the lead of the Museo della Mente. A resulting network will provide researchers with a database that tracks past psychiatric trends and tendencies in Italy."

References:

1. Povoledo E. In Rome, a new museum invites a hands-on approach to insanity. New York Times. October 28, 2008:C5. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/28/arts/design/28insa.html?ref=science. Accessed November 20, 2008.