The Italian Law "180" thirty years after: from the unmet needs of sick people and families the duty of a critical reflection.

The law that in 1978 reformed the psychiatric assistance in Italy, the well known "Law 180", represented an historical moment not only respect to the new modalities of the assistance to mentally ill people but also for the cultural and social approach to psychiatric illness. The closure of psychiatric hospitals and the beginning of the process of destigmatization of mental illness were its most relevant and historically significant elements. Despite of this, thirty years after the law and considering modes and results of its utilization, some critical remarks can be made, aiming at a further evolution in the modalities of the assistance to psychiatrically ill people.