The Dr. Guislain Award 'Breaking the Chains of Stigma' is
an initiative of Janssen Research & Development and Museum
Dr. Guislain,
uniting two institutes that have a longstanding involvement
and heritage in the field of mental health care and research.
On October 10th 2012 Bagus Utomo was the first to receive
the Award, which refers to Joseph Guislain (1797- 1860), the first
Belgian psychiatrist and pioneer in the treatment of people with
mental illness.
Dr. Joseph Guislain
As the head of institutions for the mentally ill in Ghent,
Joseph Guislain was the first to provide treatment based on
science.
He always tried to find innovative treatment techniques, where
special attention was paid to the social integration of his
patients.
As a professor at the University of Ghent, he lectured and
published work about mental illness and enjoyed considerable
recognition by his contemporaries. He did not limit himself to
medical science but also actively used other disciplines such as
architecture and cultural life.
He was a driven activist for a more humane treatment
of people with mental illness, he did all he could to stand up
for their rights and improve their social position. The logo is
based on the floor plan of the Guislain Institute, which is an
exemplary display of Joseph Guislain's conviction on the importance
of architecture as a therapeutic element in a patient's recovery
process. It is a universal symbol for innovating, social, and
cultural projects within the context of mental health care that
also contributes to bringing down
the stigma surrounding mental illness.
View the presentation of Dr. Guislain Award here.
