Saúde mental e espiritualidade no ambiente universitário: olhares e vivências de estudantes do ICSEZ/UFAM

Abstract

This work aims to reflect on the importance of spirituality for the mental health and well-being of students at the Institute of Social Sciences, Education and Animal Science (ICSEZ) at the Federal University of Amazonas (UFAM). Considering the academic environment as a locus of research, it is observed that the issues that are part of student life involve processes of change and adaptations, not limited to adaptations in relation to academic life. In this sense, the present research arises from a personal concern and aims to understand how spirituality can contribute to alleviating issues related to psychological suffering, especially in the university context. Studies show that spirituality offers college students a source of emotional support and meaning, helping them deal with academic and personal challenges. In methodological terms, this is a research with a qualitative approach, opting for the questionnaire technique and self-narratives, thus, the study is part of the perspective of the biographical approach that seeks to construct meanings based on the experiences lived by the author and by the academic interlocutors of the study. In this study, we sought to listen to and analyze students' narratives about the challenges experienced during the training process in Higher Education, verifying, based on the interlocutors' experiences, their experiences in relation to anxiety and spirituality. From data analysis, we sought to identify professionals, projects and/or programs at the University that were aimed at the mental health of the institution's students, all this to understand whether and/or how this issue that we consider so fundamental to an academic experience.