“Qualquer um pode ficar perturbado”: Os sentidos construídos sobre o sofrimento psíquico por usuários de saúde mental

Abstract

Throughout human history, madness has been conceived in different ways: with a mystical meaning, in the Middle Ages, as a mental illness, with the advent of asylum Psychiatry, and as a psychic suffering/mental disorder, with the emergence of the reformist movement. In order to understand how mental health users currently perceive madness, the aim of this study was to analyze the meanings produced by these people about psychic suffering in public domain videos. The specific objectives were: to analyze how the appearance and permanence of psychic suffering were constructed in the narratives of these subjects; to identify the discourses (religious, asylum, reformist, etc.) which indicate the meaning they attribute to this suffering; and to investigate the position of these people about the diagnosis elaborated by medical knowledge. To develop this study, we adopted the theoretical-methodological perspective of the production of meanings proposal based on the analysis of discursive practices. This is a qualitative study, with an exploratory character, with documentary research carried out for its development. The ‘A madness between us’ and ‘Estamira’ video documentaries and the ‘I am not a monster: schizophrenia’ conference were used. The narratives were submitted to discourse analysis, according to the concept of dialogue maps (Nascimento, Tavanti; Pereira, 2014). In the analyzed reports, some users referred to psychic suffering using the asylum psychiatry discourse, however, some take a stand against this knowledge. The mystical-religious discourse was also found in the testimonies, and the family plots were highlighted when they talked about family crises and the sexual violence suffered. Users also mentioned daily relationships, insecurity, and the feeling of vigilance when walking around. The results indicated that, despite the strength of the discourse based on asylum psychiatry, some users play a leading role when they are empowered and subvert the ideas defended by this knowledge. The social relevance of this research is justified not only for its academic contributions but also because it provoked reflections on a new social place for madness and on the paths that must continue to be followed by the reformist proposal.