Drug addicts and their perceptions on the psychiatric internment

Abstract

This is an exploratory and descriptive study, of qualitative approach, that aimed at to unmask the opinions and beliefs of drug addicts regarding treatment and internment in a psychiatric institution, through an interview with seven (7) users of psycho-active substances. Through the thematic analysis of content, it was observed that that population presents contradictory perceptions concerning the psychiatric internment. They consider it is something that isolates, impedes the freedom, but at the same time they say it allows you to be welcomed and to feel safe. The individuals emphasized the biomedical aspect of the internment and the hospital as the center of the attentions, reproducing the hegemonic model of the health assistance.