Abstract

FERREIRA, Dayane Fernandes; AHNERTH, Neli Machado de Souza  and  BATISTA, Eraldo Carlos. The significance of being a woman caregiving a family member with severe mental disorder in the Amazon region. Aletheia [online]. 2019, vol.52, n.2, pp. 36-51. ISSN 1413-0394.

This study aimed to understand the meanings produced about the role of caregiver of a family member in severe mental distress. This is a qualitative research conducted with six women from a municipality in the interior of Rondônia. The information was obtained through semistructured interviews and analyzed using the Discourse Analysis technique from the perspective of social constructionism. From the interviews emerged the following interpretative repertoires: a) the social construction of care as a female function; b) the family burden of the caregiver woman; and c) faith as a source of relief from suffering. The results showed that, when assuming the role of caregiver of the family member in psychiatric treatment, the woman ceases to perform her professional activities, abdicates social life and lives daily with a physical and emotional overload. Even after the evolution of social roles played by men and women, care strategies continue to be based on the female figure.

Keywords : Care; Mental Distress; Woman.

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