The psychosomatic for undergraduate thesis of the course of Naturology from UNISUL: an analysis from the view of systematic thinking and the multidimensional vision of diseases

Abstract

In the search for an integral approach to health, the psychosomatics can be a tool for understanding the mind-body relationship in the process of falling ill. However, it is necessary to consider the existence of multiple psychosomatic approaches. The aim of the present study was to analyze the use of psychosomatics in the final works of the bachelor’s degree in naturology at UNISUL. The research is qualified as qualitative, of documen-tary and exploratory character. Undergraduated thesis used were produced in the period from 2004 to 2018. Based on this adopted criterion, 24 articles were selected. The articles were analyzed by means of Thematic Content Analysis, from three categories provided a posteriori: a) Psychosomatics as a causal explanation of the disease b) The individual hold responsible for the illness c) Illness as loss of harmony. As result, a wide use of the psychosomatic thinking was verified in the undergraduate final works. There was a tendency to make direct relationships between specific symptoms and certain emotions, as well as the understanding that this phenomenon unidirectionally adopts the mind-body sense. The process of falling ill is understood as a loss of harmony or internal balance. Despite being understood as a multifactorial phenomenon, the individual dimension is highlighted. The need to recognize the subject’s singularity in the illness process was discussed, as well as the valorization of the construction of the narrative itself and recognition of the systemic dimension of the phenomenon. Therefore, it can be inferred that there is a need of definition of a theoretical frame of reference in psychosomatics compatible with the systemic and multidimensional understanding of health in naturology.