Objective: to describe the patients experience of being under mechanic ventilation without continuous sedation effects in the Intensive Care Units (ICU). Methodology: qualitative study with phenomenological focus, performed during the year of 2006 in the city of Rionegro Antioquia, Colombia. Depth interviews were conducted to six men and three women who had all the physical and mental conditions to participate in the study aging between 24 and 48 years old. Results: not being under sedation during the ICU stance was associated by the patients with a lower severity of the disease and death risk: being awake allowed them to participate in their own disease process and help with the treatment. Conclusion: the participant patients valued positively the experience of being under mechanic ventilation without the sedation effects.