SIMÕES, C. H. D.; BARCELOS, T. F.; OLIVEIRA, D. O. F. de; VISINTIN, C. D. N.; AIELLO-VAISBERG, T. M. J. “Crazies over junkies”: The collective imagination of mental health professionals. Interação em Psicologia, v. 27, n. 1, 2023.
Available on: https://dx.doi.org/10.5380/riep.v27i1.79722
Abstract: Considering that clinical practices are based both on scientific knowledge and on beliefs and values that are not always conscious, this study aims to investigate the collective imagination of mental health professionals about the psychiatric patient, from the perspective of psychoanalytic concrete psycho-logy. The importance of this study lies on the interest in improving the quality of care, considering both the benefit of patients and the improvement of professional practice conditions. Based on a collective psychological interview, articulated around the use of the Thematic Drawing-and-Story Procedure [D-E (T)], we approached seven higher education professionals who work in mental health service. Consideration of the material allowed the interpretative production of two affective-emotional fields of meaning: “Psychotic sufferers” and “Dependent impostors”. The overall picture shows the coexistence of sympa-thetic and ethical views toward the mentally psychotic with prejudiced and hostile views toward the drug-dependent. This contrast is mainly based on the difficulty in realizing that the motivational basis for drug use would be emotional suffering. As a whole, this scenario allows us to conclude that the psychiatric reform has brought about transformations that promote acceptance, but that stigmas to be overcome still remain.