A tentativa de suicídio e o Seridó potiguar: um estudo à luz da fenomenologia hermenêutica heideggeriana

Abstract

The phenomenon of suicide runs through the history of humanity and many authors have dedicated themselves to studying it. Thinking about this phenomenon in the territory of Rio Grande do Norte, we observed high rates in the municipality of Caicó, Seridó Region of the State. This region makes up the northeastern semiarid, a region that has been eroded by the exploitation of natural resources and drought. Despite these characteristics, one of the best Human Development Indexes (HDI) of the State emerges, showing the historical struggles of the population for better living conditions. Seridó also has in its history and culture remarkable characteristics of religiosity and political struggles. This work aims to understand the experience of the suicide attempt in the region of Seridó in Rio Grande do Norte. Such a study is configured as phenomenological-hermeneutic research, inspired by Heidegger's ontology. Five survivors of the suicide attempt, living in the municipality of Caicó-RN, were interviewed. The analysis of the material included the collaborators' narratives and the researcher's affectation, through the phenomenological-hermeneutic interpretation. The results of the study showed the meanings of the experience of giving up living in the Northeastern semiarid region. We realize the presence of historicity building meanings for the people residing in the Seridó. The interpretations of the narratives presented reports of feelings of meaninglessness, fear of social judgments, love conflicts, guilt and sadness feelings, among others. We reflected on aspects of the region's culture that are interspersed in the collaborator's speeches, as well as the constant struggle to stay alive in the face of an intense desire to not live. We hope that the existential approach to the ontological condition experienced by these people, during their suicide attempts, will contribute to a new look at the phenomenon of suicide.