“Minha história de superação”: sofrimento, testemunho e práticas terapêuticas em narrativas de câncer

Abstract

Este trabalho buscou investigar as formas de comunicação do sofrimento ligado ao câncer a partir de estudo qualitativo de narrativas de indivíduos vivendo com a doença. O objetivo foi problematizar conteúdos, estratégias enunciativas e cenas discursivas desses testemunhos, buscando compreender as noções de doença, sofrimento e pessoa. Observou-se que a publicização dessas narrativas estava vinculada às reconfigurações dos processos de saúde e doença na contemporaneidade, marcados pela categoria pessoa doente e pela lógica do risco. Vinculava-se, também, às representações sociais do câncer, em que a memória da letalidade e o aumento da incidência tornava-o uma experiência ameaçadora mas, também, mais familiar. Suas condições de comunicabilidade vinculavam-se, ainda, à emergência do sofrimento como experiência socialmente valorizada. Esses relatos revelam a força das narrativas biográficas no contexto contemporâneo, marcado pelo individualismo, em que a exposição da intimidade é entendida como ato terapêutico.Palavras-chave: Sofrimento. Doença. Câncer. Narrativas biográficas.

Meanings and dimensions of cancer by sick people - a structural analysis of social representations

“…Cancer is a chronic-degenerative disease characterized by disordered growth and rapid spread at the local or systemic level (1) . It is a socially feared pathology due to its clinical conditions and therapeutic complexity, also being related to the finitude in the everyday and professional imaginations since the first reports of its existence (2)(3) . The difficulty of controlling cancer and its consequent potential for lethality have marked the history of the disease, associating it with a devastating evil, responsible for the instability of the body as a whole (4) .…”

“…In this sense, neoplasia is subject to stigmatization, associated with death, disfigurement, body deterioration, suffering and pain (2) . The very word cancer is related to the negative implications of the disease, and even its pronunciation is repressed by some patients in an attempt to deny it or to move away from the suffering it brings (5) .…”

“…Despite the strong correlation of neoplasia with death and suffering, it is necessary to think of new ways of signifying the experience of the disease in contemporary times, which varies in its forms of 'living, feeling and speaking' according to the social actors involved, places occupied in space and transformations over time (2) . With regard to cancer, antineoplastic treatments have been extensively developed in recent years, which has had an impact on patients' survival (8) , and possibly on perceptions and symbolic constructions of the disease.…”

Chemotherapy Under the Perspective of the Person With Cancer: A Structural Analysis

“…These meanings change over time and vary according to how people live the processes of health and illness in the social, cultural and political contexts in which those experiences are inserted. 8 In this context, arises the question: in which way, currently, cancer patients structurally organize their social representations about chemotherapy? It is worth mentioning that the representational construction allows the patient to give meaning to the experiences that are settled during the treatment and to their conduct in the face of the new reality that surrounds them, thus constituting a framework for the construction of information and concepts based on the need to adapt to the therapeutic process.…”

Repercussões profissionais e cotidianas do adoecimento em pacientes do sexo masculino com câncer avançado

“…Tendo isso em vista, a ocorrência da doença, o tratamento doloroso e o contato frequente com a possibilidade de morte evocam sentimentos que tornam a finitude mais ameaçadora para esses pacientes (Lerner & Vaz, 2017). Diante disso, entende-se que o câncer é uma doença cercada por diversas representações negativas, sendo muitos os impactos gerados na vida dos sujeitos que o vivenciam.…”