O envelhecimento como metáfora de morte: a clínica do envelhecer

Abstract

Through a study of the psychoanalytic literature - mainly of Freudian theoretical matrix and towards contemporary psychoanalysis authors - this thesis has aimed at verifying which issues and aspects of the process of aging needed more attention. One tried to understand the representation of the elderly and of aging through different historical periods, outlining an overview of aging in different societies, thus obtaining a framework of the issues present in today's clinic. Grounded on these studies, I have mapped out contemporary scenes, as they show the social representations of old age in fragments from the media (soap operas, films, Internet, newspapers, magazines and literature). Naturally, an expressive number of my patients has been exposed to this media universe. Therefore, this study has been based on five of my patients, who took part in an institution s therapeutic group for five years. I observed, during the therapy sessions, that the clinic for aging (term coined by me) was lacking in studies that could contribute to the understanding of this phase of human development with its very specific and singular characteristics. It was then necessary to map out the biological and psychic aspects, as well as to discriminate them, once the processes of aging and falling ill, although sometimes seen as intertwined, not always are. Finally, the clinic for aging acquires a new specific aspect with the presentation of the clinic cases mentioned, which served the purpose of illustrating the psychic issues experienced