Subjectivity modes in psychiatric speech: implications and impact of psychiatric diagnosis on the subject of identity construction

Abstract

This article aims at presenting the results of a study
that approached the impact of the psychiatric
diagnosis on the modes of subjectivity. It also proposed
to demonstrate the relation of the diagnosis and
the medicalization process with the repercussion
on the individuals’ social relationships. Thus,
an exploratory qualitative research was conducted,
using data from medical records and semi-directed
interviews with ten users of a Basic Health Unit
with Family Health Strategy in a city of the state of
Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. The main findings were
expressed in three axes: subjectivity by the disease,
in which the subjects recognize themselves and
reproduce a behavior consistent with the imposed
diagnosis; medicalization as self-control, which
discusses their dependence on medication; and
interpersonal relationships after diagnosis, alluding
to the change in behavior that the closest people have
towards the subject under treatment.