PSYCHOLOGICAL DISTRESS IN MEDICAL EDUCATION: A CARTOGRAPHIC READING OF AFFECTIVE INTENSITIES AND THE PRODUCTION OF CARE

Abstract

This study analyzes psychological distress in medical education, considering the affective intensities that traverse the training process and their relationship with institutional conditions of care production. This is a qualitative study guided by the cartographic method, as proposed by Passos E and Barros RB (2020), combining in-depth interviews (Tedesco S, Sade C and Caliman L, 2014) and the application of the Depression, Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS-21). The theoretical framework is based on Foucault M (1987; 1988), Deleuze G and Guattari F (1995), and Birman J (2000), allowing the understanding of education as a field of subjectivity production. Results indicate a widespread presence of anxiety, stress, and depression as effects of institutional arrangements and training demands, in line with Merhy EE (2002) and Campos GWS and Domitti AC (2007). Psychological distress is inscribed in the body as a territory of intensities, functioning as an analyzer of training practices in health, in dialogue with Amarante P (2007) and Costa-Rosa A (2000).