Automutilação e as redes sociais virtuais: diálogos possíveis na perspectiva da Terapia ocupacional em saúde mental

Abstract

Self-mutilation is a behavior of aggression against one's own body in search of emotional sensations to alleviate physical ones. Within the context of social networks, the practitioners seek a space where they can get isolation or shelter, get to know experiences or expose their own, and seek information without criticism or judgment. The general objective of this study was to understand the scientific production about the self-mutilation phenomenon and its relations with social networks, considering the contributions to reflections by occupational therapists from the mental health field. This research is a narrative review of literature, performed from a content analysis of the selected samples, undertaking a classification operation called representational categories. As obtained results, 08 publications were selected among the total articles and dissertations examined, which complied with the criteria established for analysis. Through this, it was possible to identify that the social networks Facebook, Tumblr, YouTube, Orkut and Twitter, were the most used in studies about selfmutilation, having as predominant public adolescents and young people who expose their anguish and experiences seeking to promote the prevention of the behavior, but on some occasions reinforcing the acts by other users. Furthermore, it was evident during the analysis of the samples that there is an incipiency of materials related to occupational therapy and virtual social networks when dealing with individuals who practice self-injury. However, it was possible to address the damage caused in the daily lives of users of virtual social networks, bringing possible care in occupational therapy.