Abstract
The study aimed to understand the experience of hearing voices from the analysis of the characteristics and contents of the voices, and of the strategies used by sixteen voice hearers who use a Psychosocial Care Center in Southern Brazil. This is a qualitative exploratory research, conducted through semi-structured interviews and content analysis. It was evidenced that the characteristics and contents of the voices can be determinant of the hearer’s emotional reactions to the experience, being more difficult to deal with when those are negative. By analyzing the strategies used by the hearers, resistance to the biomedical model was perceived even within a mental health service. It was concluded that there is a need to think about other possibilities of recovery for people who hear voices, possibilities that take into account the complexity of the experience and that are consistent with the psychosocial care model.
Keywords:
Mental health; Schizophrenia; Deinstitutionalization