PERCEPTIONS OF INDIVIDUALS HOSPITALIZED IN PSYCHIATRIC UNITS ABOUT LIVING WITH A MENTAL DISORDER 1

摘要

Objective: to reveal the perception of individuals hospitalized in psychiatric units about living with a mental disorder. Method: study with phenomenological approach with data obtained through interviews with ten adult individuals hospitalized in a psychiatric unit of a teaching hospital in the southern region of Brazil between January and March 2014. The steps of Paul Ricoeura??s hermeneutic phenomenology were used, and Maurice Merleau-Pontya??s theoretical-philosophical reference was used for data understanding and interpretation. Results: three themes were revealed: the world of individuals that experience a mental disorder; perception on the mental disorder for the individual that experiences psychiatric hospitalization; and the being in the ambiguity relation: the movement of freedom. Conclusion: the health care team, particularly nurses, need to incorporate the critical reflective view of the care practice, the scientific bases, and the legislation in force in the area of health, especially mental health, to enable autonomy of choice focused on the human being experiencing a mental disorder, as well as promote a warm network of individualized care that values the reception and incites the self-care through the education in health in the perspective of comprehensive actions. Therefore it is critical to promote health, autonomy, and freedom by listening to the individuals that experiences the phenomenon of a mental disorder in relation to their life desires and clinical perspectives.