The journey of users and family members after communication of the diagnosis of psychiatric disorders followed by a CAPS in a city in the North region

Abstract

Experiencing the communication of a mental disorder diagnosis involves a series of emotional issues that mobilize the affected person and their family members and/or companions to question their very existence. Psychiatric disorders are examples of chronic health conditions with a progressive and disabling course, representing a public health problem and posing an enormous challenge to patient care and psychosocial adjustment. Little research has been conducted on how patients and their families understand the communication of the diagnosis. This study aims to understand the perception of communication of the diagnosis of psychiatric disorders among patients and their families in light of Martin Heidegger's philosophy—meanings and significance in discourses. It is the result of a dissertation and falls within the field of Health Psychology and the Psychology and Phenomenology research line of the Phenomenological-Existential Psychology Laboratory (FAPSI/UFAM/CNPq). This is a study based on a qualitative research approach, using the phenomenological method of research in Psychology with a descriptive, exploratory, and reflective approach. The interview analysis drew on the thinking of Martin Heidegger. The phenomenological-psychological method of research in psychology was used. An audio-recorded phenomenological interview was used, based on a guiding question, with further developments after the question was posed. The participants were 12 patients and 3 family members. Two categories with subcategories were extracted from the study: 1. Communication of the diagnosis: I refuse to accept the verdict; 2. Being-with-the-other: the experience of support and non-support. It is concluded that, based on the communication of the diagnosis of a psychiatric disorder, a series of elements emerge that reshape the existence of patients and family members treated by a mental health institution, characterizing the multidimensionality of being in the face of facticity.