Noções psicológicas acerca de subjetividades negras e saúde mental no Brasil racista: uma revisão de literatura

Abstract

Introduction: Brazil has a historical and social foundation marked by colonization, the process of which was instituted by the exploitation not only of the territory but of cultures present here, indigenous, African or any other considered to violate the Eurocentric order. In this operation, legacies still observed today in the context of society were left, namely, structural racism, which manifests itself through the violence and oppression of the system against individuals of African descent, black and mixed race, and has gone through the extermination of non-white bodies. Racial segregation became a preponderant legacy of the development of the Brazilian social body. In this way, racism is camouflaged in many situations, unidentified by most people. However, it is not only configured as a problem of a social nature, considering that its effects reverberate in the subjectivity and mental health of the black population, in a way that starts to call for reflection on how social, historical, political and moral issues are determining factors for ideological overcoming through the implementation of political measures to stop racist practices, here especially in the area of mental health (Benedito; Fernandes, 2020). In view of the above, it is clear that taking a critical stance to question the guiding principles of these mental health practices in Brazil is essential. Objective: To discuss, based on a narrative review, the implications of racism in mental health through Psychology in the Brazilian context. Methodology: Bibliographical research was carried out: 1) in the collection of the Periódicos CAPES platform with the following descriptors: racism; Psychology; mental health; 2) on the SciElo Platform with the following descriptors: race and social psychology. The first search retrieved thirty-one studies and the second seventeen. In both searches, the time frame of the last ten years (2014-2023) was adopted, the retrieval of which was carried out in March 2023. Eight studies were included at the end to discuss the results.  Results and Discussion: The power of racism was verified as a factor in the devaluation of black subjectivities and, consequently, making people sick at a mental level, which can generate disorders and cognitive and/or behavioral patterns of contempt for one's own image and identity, as well as increasing the risk of suicide, according to Fernandes et al. (2022) ; Silva and Oliveira (2021). The research was also an essential stage for diagnosing the situation, to highlight implicit aspects inherent to the public about the racial issue and its social, institutional and political implications; as well as exposing the legitimate proportions of the problem. Academic productions have proven to be quite useful in discussing the topic, however, it seems to us that academic production, although of high quality, is still low and not very accessible, as discussions do not gain notoriety and scope for practice (Gouveia; Zanello, 2018) . When we look at the repercussions of such debates on the execution of psychological work and institutional norms, this perception is even more significant (Ignácio; Mattos, 2019). Therefore, according to Gouveia and Zanello (2018), most professionals do not have the training and skills to break with coloniality in Psychology, the bibliography still needs a greater generation of related content and changes are urgently needed to counter institutional and structural racism in the country. Final considerations: It is important to highlight that structural racism in Brazil makes the existence and effectiveness of public policies for black citizens a challenge, as can be seen in national mental health policies. And the same is observed in other Psychology exercises in mental health outside public spaces. Transforming this condition rooted in national society would only be possible with the end of racism, however, reaching this ideal proves to be too complex. We corroborate, in summary, the premise of the author Veiga (2019) that racism, because it is so deeply embedded in the molds of the construction of the State, cannot be destroyed without first destroying it. Despite this, the necessary radical change should not end efforts to achieve progress. In this way, it is highlighted how crucial it is to develop strategies to cope with this reality. The proposals are: to mobilize institutions to recognize the racist situation and adhere to their own fighting practices, to encourage epistemological production regarding the themes presented and to include content and discussions in this regard in the training of psychologists so that there is a critical praxis, truly anti-racist and combative against mental illness. It is also worth highlighting, in order to progressively overcome this reality, the importance of encouraging the appropriation of content historically erased in development, in order to bring everyone together, regardless of race, to recognize places of privilege and oppression, as well as strengthening forms of black resistance, such as the quilombamento and movements of acceptance and activism of black people, as emphasized by Veiga (2019) and Santos (2023). Therefore, the primary efforts to fight the legacy of colonization and awaken a new logic of mental health care related to blackness are theoretical and practical standards for the entire nation, being structural reforms and mechanisms of black resistance.

Keywords: Blackness; Racism; Psychology; Mental health; Brazil.