Depersonalization of the patient and his history: a holistic view of the literature

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The depersonalization of the patient and his/her history is present in health care and it is described with great sensitivity in the literature, which, because it represents the human being integral, demonstrates how harmful this dehumanization process can be. OBJECTIVE: This essay aims to demonstrate how much the literature can provide a holistic view of the patient in the process of loss of autonomy. RESULTS: The short story Paulo by author Graciliano Ramos analyzes, in a poetic and specific way, a scenario of depersonalization of the patient and his history and how distressing it can be. On the other hand, it is important to analyze contexts such as the professional with Burnout syndrome and the pandemic by COVID-19 as potentiating this patient's dehumanization, since these scenarios trigger physical and emotional stress for the health professional and, therefore, can trigger emotional distance and dehumanization by the caregiver. CONCLUSION: The literature brings subjectivity to represent the process of illness and hospitalization from the perspective of the patient and, thus, allows an integral view of the being, which is essential to minimize the depersonalization of the patient and his history. The analysis from this context is necessary to insert approaches in care that go beyond the focus on illness, with the appreciation of listening and patient’s autonomy.