In this work the notions of health, life and death were investigated through the practices of Intensive Care Units (ICUs). As a theoretical basis, references from Anthropology, History and Psychoanalysis were used. Based on the observations and the experiences of the medical doctors, psychologists and patients, it was noted that a series of understandings and interpretations are employed in forming the practices of maintaining patients alive in the ICU. The extreme situations experienced in these centres mark those who pass through them, and one notes a subjectivity in each one’s personal experience.
ICU; Health; Subjetctivity