From Individual Psychiatry to Planetary Health Care: A Personal Account of a Brazilian Social Psychiatrist

Abstract

This article describes the personal journey of an experienced Brazilian child psychiatrist who also trained as a systems-oriented family therapist who realized that she was not systems oriented enough. Her son, a family doctor, has been influencing the inclusion of planetary health care in her work. Personal, intergenerational, and professional development go hand in hand in this account, along with scientific developments. The account aims at inspiring other social psychiatrists and mental health workers to include 1 min for the planet in consultations, preventive, and rehabilitative work and to spread the word to our countries and international mental health institutions.