Dinâmica social da automedicação

Abstract

The search for relief of symptoms has existed since Antiquity, but medication by pharmaceutical drugs is a relatively recent phenomenon, as well as the indiscriminate act of self-medication. The purpose of this study is to comprehend the motivations of continued selfmedication, noting the side effects observed. The theoretical analysis considers three dimensions of the problem: economic - productivist expansionism, characteristic of globalization, permanent stimulus to consume; political - gaps in the State as a watchdog and the hegemony of the biomedical model; and epistemological - Cartesian conception of the human body and health, removing traditional knowledge of prevention and cure. The empirical research was conducted through qualitative interviews with people who often selfmedicate, selected by convenience. Among the reasons noted are the search for rapid relief of symptoms (motivated by the development and easier access to effective substances) and difficult access to medical services. It was noted a process of "illusion of healing" in means that the real cause is in fact not treated; It also became clear that there is a vicious circle in which the individual self-medicate initially to treat a symptom and afterwards ends up having to self-medicate in order to treat the side effects. The "cure of illusion" is expressed through the need to implement measures of education and communication aimed at raising awareness to prevention and quality of life and reforms in the highly specialized and bureaucratized health system.