Introduction:

The imaginary are subjective/personal mental constructions belonging to all human and correspond to their way of seeing and understanding the world. These may be explored during the Self-Help Groups in Mental Health (SHGMH) forums. The paper aims to describe the imaginary about mental illness among the participants to the SHGMH, Pereira-2013.

Methods:

This is a qualitative study based on Grounded Theory, with comparative analysis by participant observation in two headed debates, theoretical sampling and systematic interrogation. The open coding was followed by axial coding, highlighting the most outstanding codes and contrasting them with the literature.

Results:

In open coding, the next categories were found: Doctors-Queries-Barriers; axial coding through comparative triangulation, showed four components: Hope-Coping-Search-Guilt.

Conclusions:

It is necessary to develop strategies that promote the continuous renewal of hope and persistence search and coping, releasing guilt and promoting the self-control lost in the process of mental healing.

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