When stigma becomes institutionalized: the discomforts of attending a mental health service for drug users

Abstract

Through the case study of a patient assisted by health professionals of a service specialized in mental health for drug users, it is analyzed before and after the restructuring of this service when receiving resources from the financing of public policies of the Plan to Combat Crack, Alcohol and Other Drugs. The profile of the expected patient differs from the profile of the patient seen, creating difficulties for professionals and the institution itself in caring for this patient and creating obstacles in the referral through the available care network. Thus, it highlights the moral classifications that permeate the daily life of health services, as well as their implications on the lives of users, highlighting the prejudice and stigma (PARKER; AGGLETON, 2001) suffered by those who pass through this network. This situation generates consequences in health/disease care practices, making us reflect on the challenges related to the stigma experienced in the field of health in order to directly rebut the fundamental questions about guaranteeing the human rights of the most vulnerable (MONTEIRO; VILELLA, 2013) . In this way, it is possible to point to the limits of the institutionalized discrimination process that must be intended in the provision of quality – and public – health care for the majority of the population (MONTEIRO; VILELLA; KNAUTH, 2012).