“I went with courage and determination”: photographies and narratives of life in the territory of mental health users

Abstract

Taking the narrative as fundamental for the construction of the illness experience, we present a research that uses the photovoice method, which articulates photography and narrative, focusing on the reports on discrimination, housing and living in the territory of nine people with the lived experience of severe psychological distress who acted as co-researchers. We carried out eight thematic cycles, which translated into 63 semi-structured interviews, 20 group meetings and one evaluation group. Each cycle completed the following steps: choice of theme; taking the photo; individual semi-structured interviews; and group meetings, producing individual and collective narratives about the images. The material was validated with the members and displayed in an exhibition, a cultural action to combat stigma. Thinking that discriminatory behavior can cause greater harm than the health condition itself, we aim to present the challenges faced by participants in their quest for a meaningful and productive life in the community. It is concluded that the work in the territory and the participative dimension of this work, this doing and thinking together with the user, must be understood as a kind of guiding ethics of psychosocial care.

Key words:
Mental health; Qualitative research; Mental health services; Social discrimination; Sociocultural territory