Camadas do sofrimento: impactos psicossociais das medidas de isolamento social em favelas da região metropolitana do Rio de Janeiro

Abstract

COVID-19 pandemis was responsible for the adpotion of social isolation measures on a global scale. Until 2019, little was known about the impacts of this type of strategy on the mental health of those which were subjected to those measueres. Studies conducted in other epidemics, indicates that individuals that undergone quarantine periods tend to exhibit symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and/or Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). However, autores have been poiting to the need of going beyond this psychiatric perspective, and take into account socioeconomic and environmental aspects on investigations related to the impacts of the pandemic, especially of those in situation of structural vulnerability. In Brazil, slums are densely populated territories, permeated by poverty and violence, that often have precarious housing, with little ventilation, lack of basic sanitation and safe drinking-water, factors that are challenges during the period of social distancing. In this sense, this work aims to investigate psychosocial impacts from social isolation measures, on slum dwellers of the metropolitan region of Rio de Janeiro State. For this purpose were conducted via Whatsapp virtual, qualitative interviews with 10 participants who were over 18 years old, and lived on those regions. From the results it was possible to infer that the suffering, anguish and affliction of the participants at this moment did not originate from the pandemic or from isolation measures per se. Rather, the crisis of covid-19 was established as a Critical Event that, together with other smaller events, territorial and invidividual specificities, made up a web of suffering on the subjects of this research.