Parents of patients with bipolar disorder under follow-up at a specialized university psychiatry outpatient clinic: A qualitative study about supposed causes as reported on the getting ill of their offspring.

• Grant number: 23/16042-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: July 01, 2024
• End date: June 30, 2025
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine - Psychiatry
• Principal Investigator: Egberto Ribeiro Turato
• Grantee: Armando William Dantas dos Santos
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Médicas (FCM). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Mental illnesses have been present in human beings since their beginnings, since we are endowed with cognitive abilities, they are also subject to failures motivated by pathologies. Its first descriptions refer to the Old Testament in which some passages such as Ecclesiastes 9:3 present madness as a state of affliction and lack of control over an individual's own actions. Currently, with the advancement of medicine and psychology, it is known that through treatments it is possible for a "mental patient" to have a relatively normal life and, with that, to integrate socially. Based on these observations, investigating people's mental and cultural meanings allows the approximation of languages and, consequently, the desired adherence of these patients to therapeutic and preventive measures. It is necessary to understand the symbolic game of illness and care in order to have good clinical success. Bipolar affective disorder (BAD) is a mental illness characterized by the alternation between periods of depression and mania, patients usually make thoughtless decisions, potentially harmful to themselves and associated with a significant loss in the quality of life of the affected person. This Disorder is often difficult to recognize because many symptoms overlap with other psychiatric disorders, and patients are often unaware of their illness. The diagnosis of bipolar disorder is made by a comprehensive clinical evaluation, unfortunately its causes are still not fully understood. In view of the scarce material present in the literature on the family relationships of bipolar patients, this study proposes to investigate the suffering generated by BAD not in the patients, but in their parents, focusing on the assumptions about the mental illness of their loved one. Objective: Interpret emotional/psychological meanings, given/attributed in interviews with family members of patients with bipolar affective disorder at the Psychiatry outpatient clinic of Hospital de Clínicas da Unicamp. Participants and Method: Sample built intentionally and sequentially, by referral from the physician in charge of the psychiatric outpatient clinic at HC-Unicamp; and closed due to exhaustion (all eligible, if the population is small) or due to saturation of theoretical information. (b) The Clinical-Qualitative Method will be used - humanistic investigative approach developed for care settings. "The Clinical-Qualitative Method (MCQ) is born from the Clinic and returns to the Clinic". (c) Use of the Semi-Directed In-Depth Open Questions Interview technique; in addition to free, complementary observations, in the collection of the participants' speeches. (d) Operationalization in the field preceded by an acculturation and acclimatization phase to promote the insertion of the researcher in the chosen care setting, as well as in the language of the future interviewees. (e) Data processing will be done by Clinical-Qualitative Content Analysis. Expected applications: (a) conclusions taken to conferences and published in journals should contribute to a better understanding of the emotional representations of the problem by readers/consumers of the literature, improving the professional-patient relationship, allowing clear guidelines to patients and families, thus increasing adherence to treatments individual clinics and preventive programs. (b) also the immediate return of research findings, taken to the local clinical team, may improve psychological management in the care of this outpatient population.