Voluntary Aid to People with Mental Disorders in Croatia in the 1930s

The chapter examines the phenomenon of providing social support to people with mental disorders in Croatia in the 1930s. During the 1930s, operating in central Croatia were three voluntary associations that tried to provide certain social support to psychiatric patients in two state psychiatric institutions. Their goal was, through organised activities, to help the psychiatric patients deal more easily with social and existential problems during and after psychiatric hospitalisations. The members of these societies also tried to improve their relations with the hospital staff, as well as work on raising awareness about the issue of mental illness and about the barriers faced by the mentally ill in everyday life. Their work was limited due to the difficult interwar socio-economic conditions and the restrictive legal regulations of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. The analysis of the chosen associations will provide an insight into the very beginnings of the organisation of volunteer activities aimed at helping with the social inclusion and destigmatisation of people with mental disorders in Croatia.