Analyse clinique du retentissement psychologique de la gestion des dépouilles mortelles covid-19 chez les membres des familles : cas de yaoundé – Cameroun

Abstract

This study entitled: Clinical analysis of the psychological impact of the management of covid- 19 mortal remains in family members: case of Yaoundé - Cameroon, starts from the fact that COVID-19 is a new disease raised to the rank of pandemic by the WHO because of the large number of deaths it caused in a short time. In addition to this, the speed of contagion and spread of this disease will push states around the world, under the leadership of the WHO, to take strict and unambiguous arrangements for burials. Some researchers approach this question through the prism of complicated mourning without however taking into consideration the psychological impact that results from the treatment of covid-19 remains on family members by adding the ethno psychoanalytic aspect. According to this approach, cultural elements play an important role in the psyche of an individual. Therefore, this study raises the issue of trauma due to the treatment of COVID-19 remains in family members. From this, the following research question arises: what is the psychological impact of the treatment of COVID-19 remains on family members? As an answer to this question, we hypothesized that the mishandling of COVID-19 remains leads to trauma in family members. Thus, our objective is to analyze and understand how the treatment of COVID-19 remains has a psychological impact on family members. Therefore, we resorted to the clinical method. The data was collected through semi-structured interviews and the passing of a peritraumatic scale with 03 participants, all of whom had lost a loved one because of COVID-19. These data were subject to thematic content analysis. The results bring out unpleasant emotions (crying, anger, rage) and bitter memories of burials. Faced with all this, the participants remained powerless despite resorting to certain negotiations. What develops in them either the type II trauma which is for Terr (1991), the attempt to repeat/repeat a traumatic event or the direct trauma when the victim has been confronted with chaos, with a feeling of impending death or horror Josse (2007, p.11). For others too, they may later develop a Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. These results were interpreted from theories and the Peritraumatic Distress Inventory scale, which gives our initial hypothesis clinical relevance.