Lives in formation: narratives of undergraduates on their experiences in the Psychology major

Abstract

An intervention on psychic suffering during an undergraduate course revealed a life experience with regard to the current Psychology Course, through a qualitative research. Narratives by six third-year Psychology students, average age 21 years and hailing from different cities, studying at the Unicentro, Irati PR Brazil, were produced during October 2017. Significant differences existed between expectation at the start of the undergraduate course and day-to-day experience, and the manner they perceived their life and positioned themselves in the face of actuality. The students narrated the experience of an overload caused by five factors: a) an integrated undergraduate course with a comprehensive curricular grade; b) a great amount of theories, disciplines and several types of practices taught simultaneously; c) reading of many texts, discussions and tasks outside the classroom; d) dense and upsetting contents; e) the ethical requirements of Psychology. The undergraduates reported on the suffering due to distance from family, friends and activities that give pleasure when they were asked for the establishment of multiple spaces for student assistance. They also registered general and mental fatigue, sleep dysfunction, nervousness, worries, anxiety, angst, feelings of culpability, unhappiness and pressure. The study also revealed several ways for being a student and living through an undergraduate course, with great complexity in a shifting world, full of demands. The study also demonstrated the need for the university personnel and other agents to discuss their role in the wake of new issues hailing from the great diversity of students and their requirements. Further research with a greater number of undergraduates, from different courses and institutions, are required for in-depth studies on the subject.