Psychosocial X Biomedical Paradigm: Where is the Social Representation Anchored in Psychic Suffering?

This study aims to determine the social representation of mental health professionals, university students from the health area, and secondary school students with regard to the crazy person and the mentally ill person, regarding the paradigms of mental health care. The study sample was composed of 150 participants, with 50 in each social group. For data collection, the free word association technique (TALP) was used, with the prompts “crazy person” and “mentally ill person”. The data were analyzed using the Tri-Deux-Mots software, through correspondence factor analysis. The secondary school students and university students presented representations of the crazy person and the mentally ill person anchored in the biomedical paradigm, which emphasizes medicalization and hospitalization with regard to mental health care. The professionals, on the other hand, presented representations anchored in the psychosocial paradigm, which guides the ideas of the Psychiatric Reform. It is recognized that although mental health care in Brazil is based on the principles of the Reform, there is still a negative view of the mentally ill person/crazy person on the part of society anchored in the biomedical paradigm, which reinforces the exclusion and maintenance of the social stigma that these individuals face.