Challenges faced by users of mental health services

reflections on narratives about labor inside and outside workshops projects of income generation

Abstract

This article is extracted from a master’s thesis, whose objective was to understand the labor experience of users of mental health services in workshops projects of income generation in Campinas, São Paulo. This is a qualitative research, from the perspective of social research, in which focus groups were formed with the participants of workshops from the Center for Workshops and Labor (Núcleo de Oficinas e Trabalho – NOT) – all six participants had labor experience previous to their entry in the workshop and brought some experiences of violence, humiliation and submission in work situations within the capitalist model. In this article, we show the narratives of these participants, which allowed us to learn the daily work in the workshops on labor and income generation from the perspective of users participants. Capitalist work does not contribute to the inclusion of socially vulnerable people. Understanding the work of users of mental health services as a citizenship right and the encounter between the principles of the psychiatric reform and solidarity economy is fundamental for the construction of worthy work spaces and for overcoming prejudice and stigma.