Abstract
In this article, we examine social distancing, the main preventive action in the Covid-19 pandemic, as a phenomenon that goes beyond its demarcation as a health measure, revealing itself as a human experience unfolded in various psychological sufferings, challenging the field of Mental Health in many ways. The analysis places this subject in the Brazilian scenario, peripheral in globalized capitalism, contextualized in hypermodernity, in which the urban way of life, stands out, marked by inequalities and vulnerabilities that are evident in the fight against the pandemic, expressing itself in suffering and disorders that challenge the field collective mental health. We point out reflections and subsidies for the expansion of this field, from a critical and complex perspective, concerning the production of knowledge and care practices, focusing on urbanity as a central analytical dimension in the understanding of social distancing. We illustrate with some challenges and possibilities of reinventing mental health, in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, focusing both on actions aimed at the collective sphere, on a macro scale, in the public health network, as well as in the constitutive meetings of the care process, seeking subsidize an expanded clinic in this context.
Keywords:
Mental health; Public health; Covid-19 pandemic; Health systems; Urbanity