Significações sobre o uso de metilfenidato entre estudantes universitários: um estudo de caso

Abstract

Methylphenidate is a central nervous system stimulant, marketed in Brazil as Ritalin, Ritalin LA and Concerta. This medication is mainly indicated for people diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder (ADHD) and Narcolepsy. Methylphenidate has also been used by people who do not have or do not identify with any diagnosis, aiming to increase attentional focus and productive capacity in the face of deadlines and goals to study and to work. This use is called pharmacological cognitive enhancement and it is not legally authorized. It is understood that the phenomenon of the use of methylphenidate, both prescribed by physicians for the treatment of ADHD, as well as non-prescribed and for cognitive improvement, make up the process of medicalization of life and society. Medicalization describes a process whereby non-medical problems become defined and treated as medical problems. Studies have indicated an increasing use of methylphenidate among university students, who do so with a view to better academic performance. Thus, based on the theoretical and methodological assumptions of Cultural-Historical Psychology and Sociohistorical Psychology, the aim was to apprehend the meanings and senses of the use of methylphenidate among university students, in order to understand the singular, historical and social aspects of this phenomenon. This research has a qualitative character, and it had as instruments the interview, the complement of sentences and the field diary. This is a case study of a medical student, approved with ADHD and methylphenidate user for about 10 years. The analysis was carried out from the meaning nuclei and the discussions were articulated through the following nuclei: from Elementary Education to Higher Education: passive-reproductive model as a promoter of difficulties in the schooling process; Between the complaint-conduct service and interested listening: the doctor-patient relationship based on medication;"It's something that already comes inside you": ADHD etiology and the experience from the diagnosis; The advertising and expansion of the diagnosis of ADHD and the use of methylphenidate; The miracle of Ritalin, its uses and harms in the short and long term; “The environment forces you”: cultural and social aspects that lead to the use of methylphenidate; COVID-19 Pandemic and Remote Learning in Higher Education. It is understood that the use of methylphenidate promotes the solution of a problem experienced at an individual level - the suffering resulting from the difficulty of meeting social demands, as well as solving the problem of the system - keeping the gears that sustain it working, through productive subjects, who understand their suffering from the biological model and neoliberal values. It is understood that the present research contributes to the debate about medicalization because it reveals the mediations that constitute the participant's meanings about methylphenidate and it brings explanatory elements of the concrete reality.