Experiência à flor da pele: estudo antropológico sobre pessoas com psoríase

Abstract

This work approaches the experience of illness in the social life of people with psoriasis treated at the Reference Center Support and Treatment for Carriers with Psoriasis, located at the University Hospital Lauro Wanderley - HULW, in the capital of Paraíba. Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory systemic disease, not contagious, that affects the skin, scalp, nails and occasionally the joints, characterized by red spots, characterized by the presence of red, thickened and scaly patches of skin. The interest in the experience of illness this study lies within the anthropology of health, specifically addressing the meaning of illness in everyday social relations of people with psoriasis, beyond notions of therapeutic itineraries. One of the strongest characteristics of this disease is a chronic, term used by biomedicine and the social sciences to refer to "long-term illnesses", who understand the processes of illness whose cure is nonexistent, but have treatment and control implications. Stigma is one of the aspects reported, since the lesions may bring harm to the quality of life, is the itch that may be present, either by lesions in visible places of the skin, and can thus compromise the selfesteem and interaction with others. The research was developed from the perspective of anthropology of disease that understands the relationship between health / disease and the role played by biomedicine in contemporary society. To do so, we used the ethnographic approach, through research techniques, involving qualitative interviews with patients with psoriasis and some relatives.