Our hospital was founded as an extension to Toptaşı Asylum located at Atik Valide complex in Üsküdar. The process of moving the hospital was initiated in 1924 with the approvals of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, the president at that time, İsmet İnönü, the Prime Minister, and Refik Saydam, the Minister of Health and was completed on June 15, 1927; Toptaşı Asylum was then closed down.
The hospital kept on rendering its services in the premises of Reşadiye Barracks under the name ‘Istanbul Emraz-ı Akliye ve Asabiye Hastanesi’ (Istanbul Hospital of Mental Disorders and Neurology). The hospital was established and developed with the supports of Dr. Fahrettin Kerim Gökay, Dr. Şükrü Hazım Tiner, Dr. Ahmet Şükrü Emet and Dr. İhsan Şükrü Aksel, all of which were students of Dr. Mazhar Osman (1884-1951) who is considered as the founder of modern psychiatry in Turkey.
Professor Ordinarius Dr. Mazhar Osman made contributions to the development of psychiatry, neurology and neurosurgery in Turkey. He pioneered in setting up the brain surgery service in the hospital. Besides these, he changed the concepts and understandings about mental disorders and made important contributions to acceptance of psychiatry as a branch in medicine, recognition of it across the country and encouragement of many doctors in choosing psychiatry as a branch of specialization. He enriched the medical literature with a large number of works and continued serving as a head doctor until 1940.
As throughout the world, the economy was impaired in 1940s, and the already insufficient state aids further diminished. In that period, the number of patients went up from 3,000 to 5,000. As new institutions were not opened; more patients had to share the same number of beds and this situation caused the rate of mortality to increase in Bakırköy. Nonetheless, some contributions were made to landscaping and renovation of the buildings during those years. The area called the “Inner Garden” where the hospital was built was enclosed in a wall of 4,000 meters in length. The buildings of Reşadiye Barracks were restored and a second storey was added to some of the wards. The “Thinking Man” statue was opened, which became one of the symbols of both Bakırköy and the psychiatry circles of Turkey.
In 1960s, plans and projects were prepared to establish modern psychiatry in the hospital and the treatment by preoccupancy method that had been used since the first day the hospital was founded was improved. Many workshops such as broidery, tailoring, floriculture, carpentry, and model making were put into operation. Nearly a thousand patients were made to join collective sporting activities outdoors for the first time in our country and feasts were organized once a year in the sporting facilities of the hospital. Three sections were created, Open Door, Semi-Open Door and Closed Door. The biggest problem experienced in that period was again the existence of more patients than the bed capacity. In that period when Dr. Faruk Bayülkem was the head doctor, efforts were made to render mental health services to people outside the hospital. The first Mental Health Dispensary in our country was put into operation in Aksaray, Istanbul as an extension to the hospital owing to the monetary support of the Turkish Association of Mentally Ill and the cooperation of the chief clinicians working in the hospital. This was followed by Mental Health Dispensaries in Kocamustafapaşa, Kasımpaşa, Eyüp, Üsküdar, Sağmalcılar and Beşiktaş in that order.
To minimize the number of inpatients, an Outpatient Psychiatric Therapy Unit (OTU) was established in 1980s, and more emphasis was given to outpatient services. The bedding time of inpatients was shortened through speedy examination and effective treatment. Those having better conditions from the patients who were bedded in the hospital for a long time were discharged. The Bakırköy Asylum Foundation was established in 1980 to improve the treatment and healthcare facilities of the hospital. The donations collected for the Foundation by means of a media campaign led by the head doctor Yıldırım Aktuna were used for this purpose.
In 1990s, renovations were made in the functioning and communication processes of the hospital. It was made possible to introduce new services and equipment and to diversify the specialization areas. “International Bakırköy Days” were arranged to continue to improve the scientific works that were initiated in 1980s and to carry these to the international sphere; scientific activities in the disciplines of psychiatry, neurology and neurosurgery were organized. In early 2000s, new units were opened including Raşit Tahsin Center of Mood Disorders, Drug Addiction Therapy and Training Center for Children and Adolescents (DATTCCA), Clinic for Adolescents and Young Adults, Sleep and Epilepsy Research Center (SERC), and Psychotic Disorders Center. The hospital now has the most developed Daytime Hospital and Rehabilitation Center in Turkey and plays an important role in clinic researches and scientific output. Besides having been the largest hospital of mental disorders and neurology in the Republican Period, the institution continues with its role of developing these areas today as well.