Psychophobia: Perception Of Mental Health In Medical Students

Abstract

In Roman and Greek antiquity, "mad people" were seen as true disturbers of a society's morality and so it was believed that they should be banished from the common people. However, with the psychiatric revolution, in the mid-1970s and 1980s, there was a change concerning concepts related to mental disorders, giving them proper name and specificity, enabling more enlightened forms of treatment and behaviors. Regarding this, by means of this historical evolution, as well as of the evolution on the mental health vision. Nowadays it is commom call all those who have some type of prejudice with people with mental illnesses ", as" psychophobic ", thus bringing to our everyday life the neology of "Psychophobia" (PICCININ, 2016). In agreement with Philippe Pinel (1745-1826), he emphasized the importance of a more respectful and humanitarian approach to the treatment of mental illnesses, and realizing that in the present day this prejudiced behavior is still present in society. This research aims to discuss, with support in research already carried out on mental health and therefore on psychophobia, the historical evolution of mental health and the vision about those who suffer some mental disorder, as well as the prejudice that these people still suffer. We will also discuss the importance of multidisciplinarity in the care of individuals with mental disorders, the prevalence of which disorders affect the academic environment and, moreover, the diagnosis of these individuals.