The objective of this article was to show that the free drawing is a picture of the way each individual sees and feels the world and oneself, and that therefore, when communicating emotional states that are unaware, may be used as diagnostic instrument. This study was accomplished at Hospital Abreu Sodré, with children from 5 to 14 years old with myelomeningocele. Two drawings were collected, one at the moment of admission and the other at the time of discharge, to analyze the picture of these two moments. Questionnaires were given to the parents, an observation protocol of the drawing and of the apparent emotional state of the child during medical care, and the testimony of the patient to the drawing. It was clearly seen with the difference from the works at the time of discharge in relation to the ones at the moment of admission, and the child’s observation and the symbolic interpretative indicators, such as the expression through the drawing detects the true feelings and emotions. The drawing brings elements, so that the health team may know better his/her patient with its needs, gaining one more possibility for interfering in order to soften the suffering, and the tension caused at a hospital admission.
KEY WORDS
Drawing – child – myelomeningocele – hospitalization
Published in the journal Arquivos Brasileiros de Paralisia Cerebral, 2007 by Mennon scientific editions.
Gersony Silva
