SOBRE A CAPA
On muteness, silence and the art (of being a psychiatrist)
"Drawings demand inquiry, questioning. And
the ubiquitous and disquieting detail: the obliterated, dissipated mouth as if by magic. It is,
therefore, double muteness: the silence of this art, performed in silence; and the
muteness imposed by Clara Pechansky to her drawings."* * Moacyr Scliar, http://www.pechansky.com.br/f_gravura.html, accessed on 12/07/08.
Choosing the cover of this issue of Revista de Psiquiatria do Rio Grande do Sul was a special challenge. This is the first issue of a new editorial board, and this, by itself, is already a challenge. More than that, this is also an issue that ends a cycle in our journal and starts a new one, at a level that is more tuned into the modern times of the editorial reality of scientific publications. Thus, it is a moment of reflection, inquiries and questionings.
This is the context in which the idea of searching for the drawing that illustrates our cover arises, using the strong and esthetically impacting work of the renowned plastic artist Clara Pechansky, born in Rio Grande do Sul.
O espelho (The mirror), from 1995, has Pechansky's trademark: mouthless figures, which are so intense at conveying the disquieting strength of silence, accurately and strongly described by Scliar's words in his comment on the artist's work.
Mute (or muted) figures that inhabit our patients and that are unable to express themselves other than through symptoms; these are the figures with whom we, psychiatrists of all theoretical backgrounds, attempt to communicate in our daily work.
Finding these mute figures, understanding their desires and impairments to give our patients voice to express themselves entirely and productively - this is what we do when we interpret their internal world and when we prescribe a given drug.
To successfully accomplish this task, it is crucial to be able to work in silence or, paraphrasing Scliar about Pechansky, to know how to use the "silence of this (our) art." Our silences are a counterpoint to muteness. Alert silence that aims at knowing; disquiet silence that identifies itself with the other's suffering and also suffers; reflexive silence that, by recognizing and holding suffering, accepting the unknown, strives to search for a meaning; silence that integrates understanding, that generates an interpretation or a clinical decision in our minds.
Therefore, the psychiatrist's ability of silencing should correspond to the muteness of the patient's internal figures. Silencing to listen; silencing to feel; silencing to think; silencing to be able to speak.
I believe that, as a result of this meeting between our "silences," such as I have described them, and the muted figures inhabiting our patient's internal world, new "voices" may emerge to enrich the patient's psychic functioning whenever an expression beyond the symptom is found, awakening abilities and potentialities that were mute.
To conclude these brief thoughts, it is worth remembering that The Mirror, by Pechansky, also inspires us to think about the role of a scientific journal as a communication instrument, which provides a "voice" to the authors' silent work, fostering the sharing of knowledge that will be converted into benefits for our patients, i.e., the final objective of our medical practice.
Publication Dates
-
Publication in this collection
01 Dec 2008 -
Date of issue
Apr 2008
