GALLO-BELLUZZO, S. R.; COUTO, T. H. A. M.; AIELLO-VAISBERG, T. M. J. The imaginary of women regarding breast cancer. Proceedings of the Second International Conference on Research in Psychoanalysis and Phenomenology: Qualitative Research in Mental Health – Psychoanalytic and Phenomenological Perspectives, Campinas: Pontifical Catholic University of Campinas, 2008.
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Abstract: This article investigates women’s conceptions of breast cancer. The research was conducted using the Thematic Drawing-and-Story Procedure [D-E (T)] within the framework of individual interviews to explore collective personhood. The analysis of the material, based on Blegerian concepts, revealed three fields in the imaginary of the investigated women regarding the experience of having breast cancer: “I had cancer, so what?”, “I have cancer: what has this disease done to me!”, and “Unhappy women can get cancer”. The first field denies the tragic nature and impact of the disease on a person’s life, while the second has a fatalistic character and implicitly raises the possibility of death. The third field, by considering cancer as a consequence of human unhappiness, carries the mark of prejudice.