Mental disorders that most affect university teachers: a study in a medical expertise service

Abstract

Objectives: verifying the types of mental disorders that most affect teachers treated in a service of medical expertise. Method: a retrospective study of documental nature with a quantitative approach developed in a Higher Education Institution of João Pessoa city - PB. The sample was composed of 254 sheets of teachers treated in a service of medical expertise of the institution selected for the study, in the period from January to 1999 to March 2011. Data obtained were analyzed through frequency and percentage. Results: almost all the sample was composed of female teachers, aged between 40 and 49, and depression was responsible for 52% absenteeism of teachers, followed by schizophrenia (12%), bipolar disorder (10%), acute reaction to stress (8%), anxiety (7%), delusional disorder (4%), and others (8%). Conclusion: the mental disorder that most affects the searched teacher category is depression. Therefore, further investigations are needed that can analyze the severity of this problematic pathology in academic area.