scholarly journals Uncovering the realities of delusional experience in schizophrenia: a qualitative phenomenological study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jasper Feyaerts ◽  
Wouter Kusters ◽  
Zeno Van Duppen ◽  
Stijn Vanheule ◽  
Inez Myin-Germeys ◽  
...  

Background Delusions in schizophrenia are commonly approached as empirical false beliefs about everyday reality. Phenomenological accounts, by contrast, have suggested that delusions are more adequately understood as pertaining to a different kind of reality-experience. To date, however, the specific nature of delusional reality-experience has not been subject to systematic empirical study. It is also unclear howthis alteration of reality-experience should be characterized, which dimensions of experiential life are involved and whether delusional reality may differ from standard reality in various ways. Furthermore, little is known about how delusional patients value and relate to these experiential alterations. This study aimed to investigate the natureof delusional reality-experience, and its subjective apprehension, in individuals with lived experience of delusions and a schizophrenia-spectrum diagnosis.Methods In this study, individuals with lived experience of delusions and a schizophrenia-spectrum diagnosis formed a purposeful sample. Phenomenologically driven semi-structured interviews were conducted to explore the nature of delusional reality-experience and participants’ subjective valuation of these experiences. Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), a qualitative method tailored to the in-depth exploration of participants’ first-person perspective, was used to analyse participants’ accounts.Findings Between Mar 2, 2020 and Sep 30, 2020, 18 adults with a clinical schizophrenia-spectrum diagnosis and lived experience of delusions participated in the interview-study. The findings suggest that delusions are often embedded in wide-ranging alterations of basic reality-experience, involving quasi-ineffable atmospheric and ontological qualities that undermine participants’ sense of the world as unambiguously real, fully present, and shared with others. We also found thatdelusional reality-experience can differ from standard reality in various way (i.e., in a hypo –and hyper-real form), across multiple dimensions (e.g., meaningfulness, necessity/contingency, detachment/engagement), and that participants are often implicitly or explicitly aware of the distinction between delusional and standard reality. Finally, delusional experience can have an enduring value and meaning that is not fully captured by a strictly medical perspective.Interpretation Increased awareness and recognition of the distinctive nature of delusional reality-experience, in both clinical and research settings, can improve diagnostic accuracy, explanatory models, and therapeutic support for delusional individuals whose lived realities are not always evident from an everyday perspective.

2021 ◽  
pp. 088626052110219
Author(s):  
Aiala Szyfer Lipinsky ◽  
Limor Goldner

Studies dealing with the experiences of non-offending mothers from the general population and minority groups after their child’s disclosure of sexual abuse are scarce, and studies on mothers from the Jewish ultra-Orthodox community are non-existent. This study takes an initial step in filling this gap by exploring how the normalization of sexual abuse shapes these mothers’ experiences. A qualitative phenomenological study was conducted on a sample of 21 mothers from the ultra-Orthodox sector whose children had been sexually abused. It consisted of in-depth, semi-structured interviews of the mothers followed by a drawing task on their experience. The analysis of the interviews yielded four central themes: the role of social stigmatization and religion on the mother’s ability to share her child’s abuse; the effect of the disclosure on the mothers’ mental state and maternal competency; the mothers’ ongoing experience in the shadow of this unprocessed/unresolved trauma; and the mothers’ coping strategies, including acceptance, faith, and meaning making. The findings highlight the influence of the tension between the need to adhere to religious norms and preserve the social fabric and the need to enhance mothers’ and children’s well-being.


2021 ◽  
Vol 75 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. 7512510228p1-7512510228p1
Author(s):  
Debra Hanson ◽  
Cherae C. Reeves ◽  
Alyssa Raiber ◽  
Megan K. Hamann

Abstract Date Presented 04/13/21 Results of a qualitative phenomenological study of the influence of spirituality on the lived experience of Christians during the rehabilitation process are shared. Findings show the pervasive impact of spirituality on occupational participation, performance, and engagement and align with the concepts of Humbert’s conceptual model of spirituality. This study of spirituality as expressed from a specific worldview perspective advances the provision of holistic, culturally relevant OT services. Primary Author and Speaker: Debra Hanson Contributing Authors: Heather Roberts, Angela Shierk


2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 3-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Parkhideh Hasani ◽  
Rostam Jalali ◽  
Zhila Abedsaeedi

Background and objectives: Conscience is a cornerstone of ethics, affecting both our private and professional lives. Everyday health care practice raises questions about conscience and how to understand its role. Conscience has also been described as inducing self-growth and protecting personal integrity. Nurses views on their reactions to behaviors consistent or contrary to conscience could therefore help us to understand the meaning of the reactions of conscience. This study aimed to illuminate meanings of nurses lived experience of conscience reaction in their daily practices.Material and methods: Interviews with nine nurses were interpreted using a phenomenological hermeneutic (Colaizzi, 1978) method. Data was collected in 2010 among nurses working in various hospitals in Kermanshah. The nurses were selected for participation purposively.Results: The nurses lived experience of conscience reaction was formulated in three themes and ten sub-themes. The first theme is ‘being peace, which includes three sub-themes: Being calm, being pleased, and being satisfying. The second theme is ‘trouble conscience’ which includes four subthemes: guilt, thinking engagement, discomfort, and fretfulness. The third theme is responding which includes three sub-themes: expressing, compensation, and lack of repeat.Conclusions: The nurses lived experience of conscience reaction showed that nurses considered conscience reaction to be an important factor in the exercise of their profession, as revealed by the descriptive categories: being peace when they act consistent with conscience; trouble conscience when they act contrary on conscience; and responding after doing an anti conscience practice. They perceived that conscience played a role in nursing actions involving patients and next of kin, and guided them in their efforts to provide high quality care.  DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bioethics.v2i3.10257Bangladesh Journal of Bioethics 2011;2(3):3-9


2017 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 529-547 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sunny Harris Rome ◽  
Miriam Raskin

Youth aging out of foster care are at particular risk for negative outcomes including school dropout, homelessness, poverty, unemployment, substance abuse, health and mental health problems, and victimization. Yet we know little about how, when, and why these youth find themselves on a downward trajectory. This qualitative, phenomenological study—conducted in partnership with four public child welfare agencies—examined the lived experience of 19 youth during their first year after exiting foster care. The authors used monthly, contemporaneous interviews to explore domains including housing, employment, education, and relationships with trusted adults. Although outcomes in employment were poorest, participants’ experience in all domains was characterized by frequent changes and instability. Adverse events began immediately and many youth were unsure how to navigate the system to get help. Yet youth who were successful in one domain were more likely to be successful in others. Risk factors included having four or more foster care placements, being on probation, accumulating fines, and losing government assistance. Protective factors included living with an adult who shares the rent and maintains a positive, consistent presence; being a full-time student; receiving educational and housing subsidies; having reliable means of transportation and communication; and maintaining the same job throughout the transitional year. Despite facing significant obstacles, the youth demonstrated resilience and optimism as they contemplated their futures. Recommendations include providing specialized services that target youth as they exit the system, and emphasizing stability rather than self-sufficiency.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S554-S554
Author(s):  
Candace C Harrington ◽  
Candace C Harrington

Abstract Previous interventional studies have failed to show long-term improvements in caregiver stress, health indices, burden, or delay in long-term care placement. The Virtual Dementia Tour® (VDT) provides a vicarious first-person perspective of symptoms related to dementia. This interpretative phenomenological study revealed family dementia caregivers’ perceptions of the VDT® and its impact on their perception of a person living with dementia. In-depth open semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten VDT® participants following a community event. Participants’ statements described a life-changing process with eye-opening epiphanies about the lived experience of dementia and served as a “call to action” to change their approach to caring. Innovative advances in family caregiving research are critical to support this valuable geriatric workforce. This original study provided new knowledge about the value of the VDT® to inform interventions that harness the unrecognized power of vicarious experiences like the VDT® for family dementia caregivers to improve long-term outcomes.


2016 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 12
Author(s):  
Cecilia Landman-Navarro ◽  
Carolina Salazar-Pérez ◽  
Damaris González-Cea ◽  
Francisca Romero-Benavides ◽  
Nicole Conejera-González ◽  
...  

Introduction: Watson established the humanized care as a research phenomenon. It remains an ethical responsibility of nurses in the context of a transpersonal relationship that enhance the harmony and individuals integrity. Humanized care now faces a dilemma for a coexistence of diverse institutional, biomedical, administrative-economist and humanist axiological models. Objective: To know the perception of care, according to lived experience of three retired nurses, through authentic stories. Methodology: A qualitative, phenomenological study describes the experiences through authentic stories of three retired nurses obtained by in-depth interviews. Homogeneous sample selection criteria: nurses belonging to 3 generations removed extensive experience in closed care, participation in training students. Results: four categories were found concatenated with each other, which reconfigure the essence of care, emphasizing the integral character of the people and harmonizing the relational dimension with the technical-scientific dimension. Nurse as a caregiver; person as being of care; essence of care and vocational training. Conclusion: Knowing the perception of retired nurses, regarding care is a contribution for reflection. It is necessary to aim for humanized care, as an ethical duty of nurses. The intervention of various institutional axiological models weakens the possibility of guiding care towards humanization. There is a risk of fragmenting people, leaving aside individualized, warmth care, generated through a transpersonal relationship.


2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-143
Author(s):  
Esma D. Paljevic

Background and PurposeThis qualitative phenomenological study explored the lived experiences of family members who have been referred to a cardiogenetics clinic following the loss of a family member to sudden cardiac death (SCD). These family members were evaluated in a Cardiogenetics Clinic in a Children's Hospital in the New York region, which utilizes an interprofessional approach to care.MethodsA qualitative phenomenological approach was used to explore the lived experience of family members that were referred following the SCD of a family member. The researcher used hermeneutic dialectics and interviewed family members that attended the Cardiogenetics Clinic.ResultsInsights gained through discussion were discussed in the following themes: stories of feelings being heard, stories of meaningfulness, and stories of mutual process. This led to the transformation of the typical linear clinic process to a transformative and dynamic model for integrated delivery of care.Implications for PracticeThis interprofessional model of care offers information regarding SCD, a genetic profile to determine risk for SCD, an integrative collaborative approach to care as well as nursing, medical interventions, psychological support, and counseling for families.


2016 ◽  
Vol 61 (15) ◽  
pp. 1760-1774 ◽  
Author(s):  
Holly Kurt ◽  
Natti Ronel

An exploratory, qualitative, phenomenological study focused on the experience of pain while participating in sexual masochistic acts. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine individuals (four female, five male) who regularly participate in sexually masochistic acts and point to pain as central to their experience. Qualitative analysis of the data revealed several key characteristics of the participant’s experience: the first time, intoxication, craving and withdrawal, tolerance, pain as control, and the pain inducing partner. The findings indicate that the way pain is experienced while mitigated through masochistic behavior creates an addictive process that coincides with a chronic behavioral spin contextualization. This article presents a preliminary model of addiction to physical pain in light of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (5th ed.; DSM-5) definition of substance-related and addictive disorders and the behavioral spin theory.


2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 37-50
Author(s):  
Daphnee S. Paco ◽  
Alberto D. Yazon ◽  
Karen A. Manaig ◽  
Sherwin B. Sapin ◽  
Marcial M. Bandoy

This study determined the issues and challenges encountered by the parents who facilitated learning at home. This research was a Qualitative-Phenomenological study that utilized the Narrative Form using the responses of the parent-participants in the Key Informant Interview conducted by the researcher. Creswell Method applied in qualitative analysis of these reactions to explore the lived experience of parents who served as Learning Facilitators in Modular Distance Learning. From the responses of the participants in the Key Informant Interview conducted, the researcher was able to extract the following themes that describe their overall ability in painting the portrait of their children: FB: Keeping You Informed, Education Must Continue, Education Cannot Wait, MDL Finds a Way, Painting a Portrait as Consecrated Responsibility, Race Against Time, and Time Works Wonders.           The researcher was able to draw out issues with implications of the findings on the lived experiences of the parents in painting the portrait of their children as not just a simple task. Their ability to paint the picture and helping their children with their studies were perceived as challenging but added colors in making their future even more meaningful.   Keywords: Paint a Portrait, Modular Distance Learning, Learning Facilitator


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tahereh Rahimi ◽  
Neda Dastyar ◽  
Foozieh Rafati

Abstract Background: Family caregivers of patients with COVID-19 face many challenges that affect their physical and mental health. Aim: The aim of the present study was to explore the family caregivers' experiences of caring for patients with COVID-19. Methods: This qualitative phenomenological study was performed based on 13 family caregivers who had experience in home caring for patients with COVID-19. Data were collected through purposive sampling with in-depth semi-structured interviews. The Colaizzi's 7-step method was used to determine themes. The MAXQDA10 software was used to manage qualitative data analysis.Results: Five themes of (a) “nature of the disease” with 2 subcategories, including “fluctuating symptoms” and “emergent and unpredictable disease;” (b) “unmet needs” with 3 subcategories, including “lack of knowledge,” “lack of health facilities,” and” financial problems;” (c) “unpleasant physical, psychological, and social experiences” with 3 subcategories, including “unpleasant physical experiences,” “unpleasant psychological experiences,” and “unpleasant social experiences;” (d) “care facilitators” with 3 subcategories, including “social support,” “adaptive mechanisms,” and “intrinsic motivations;” and (e) “positive experiences” with 3 subcategories, including “promoting spirituality,” “improving relationships,” and “growth” were extracted.Conclusion: Information and financial support for COVID-19 should be provided to family caregivers. Also, community members should embrace patients and family caregivers and reinforce the positive experiences of caregivers.


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