Sofrimento psiquico em acadêmicos: um despertar para a saúde mental dentro da academia.

Abstract

Psychic suffering can be defined as an existent difficulty in handling daily life or a certain situation, thus causing a suffering of wide dimension, and it is something that appears as a consequence of all the stress created with the entry into higher education and the attempts of adapting to the academic world. The main goal of this research was to identify possible psychic suffering in academics from the bachelor of science in nursing course in a public university. To do so, two instruments were used, the Self Reporting Questionnaire (SQR-20) and the Lipp's Inventory of Stress for Adults (ISSL) gathered in one questionnaire, using a quatitative approach. A sample of 68 academics was obtained, with 78% of the participants being female, with an age average of 20,92 years old, in which 75% live with their families. The hypothesis that nursing academics present a high level of possible psychic suffering and stress was confirmed. The percentage of academics in possible psychic suffering was 82,4%; on stress, it was observed that most part of the academics (86%) is in Phase II of stress, also called resistance phase, and that female academics are most inclined to both stress and psychic suffering. We conclude in fact that research on the mental health of the academics of this course and perhaps this institution needs to be deepened, enhanced and encouraged so that we can more fully evaluate the mental health of academics and generate an action plan to decrease stress levels and possible psychic suffering.