[Life and work of women hospitalized at a psychiatric unit]

This study was carried out at the women's sector of a psychiatric hospital in the city of Mossoró, RN, Brazil. Our aim was to learn about the life and work aspects regarding first hospitalizations and rehospitalizations of theses women. To this end the authors applied semistructured interviews with 10% of the hospitalized women, studied their medical files and talked to the hospital's nursing staff about the women that were interviewed. The material collected showed a high level of dissatisfaction with regards to their private and professional lives. After their first hospitalization, as a result of the traditional psychiatric care, these women initiated they "psychiatric trajectory".