Mental Health as a Structuring Axis of Primary Care: Limits and Potentials of the Psychosocial Care Network (RAPS)

Mental health has increasingly been recognized as a central dimension of comprehensive health care and a strategic axis of Primary Care systems. In contexts marked by social vulnerability, epidemiological transitions, and the intensification of psychosocial suffering, Primary Care plays a key role in early identification, longitudinal follow-up, and coordination of mental health care within health networks. The Psychosocial Care Network (RAPS), implemented in Brazil as part of the Psychiatric Reform, represents an institutional arrangement aimed at replacing asylum-based models with territorial, community-based, and rights-oriented care. This article discusses mental health as a structuring axis of Primary Care, analyzing the limits and potentials of RAPS in responding to contemporary mental health needs. The analysis highlights the strengths of Primary Care, such as proximity to daily life, continuity of care, and interdisciplinary work, as well as the role of matrix support in fostering shared responsibility between generalist and specialized services. At the same time, persistent challenges are examined, including underfunding, workforce precarization, insufficient training, fragmentation of care, and political disputes surrounding mental health policies. The findings suggest that strengthening mental health within Primary Care requires sustained investment, intersectoral articulation, professional qualification, and the reaffirmation of care in freedom as an ethical and political commitment. Mental health is thus reaffirmed as inseparable from citizenship, social inclusion, and the right to health.