The room with a thousand keys. A qualitative exploration into life, illness and healthcare when living with severe mental and physical illnesses

People suffering from severe mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and severe
depression live complex lives and often require significant support and assistance to manage their
daily lives. They often live with one or several physical illnesses in addition to their mental illness,
which makes life more complex and difficult to manage. They feel treated differently and do not
feel like a part of the surrounding society, and are more socially vulnerable. They experience social
inequality, both in society as a whole and in their encounters with the healthcare system and the
treatment they receive, but we do not know enough about how they themselves experience living
with mental and physical illnesses, the barriers they face in their lives, and in their encounters with
the healthcare system when seeking medical care or receiving treatment.