An exploration of the experiences of being involved with psychiatric services and psychiatric admission for individuals with psychosis: an interpretative phenomenological analysis

Background: It has been found that patients have expressed favourable attitudes towards hospital settings (Weinstein, 1979) but more recently, evidence from service user feedback has indicated the experience of psychiatric admission can be felt to be neither safe nor therapeutic (Department of Health, 2002). There has been lack of qualitative research exploring individuals’ experiences of psychiatric admission in the context of acute psychosis. Aims: The aim of this study was to explore the experience and perceptions of psychiatric admission for individuals with psychosis using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Method: Five participants with psychosis who were currently admitted to a psychiatric ward were interviewed using a semi-structured interview. Results: Three super ordinate themes emerged, which were labelled: “I feel like a, a prisoner in here…”, “‘..my life is in their hands..” and “There is an awful lot of stigma put on mental health patients...” Conclusions: The emergent themes suggested individuals felt imprisoned, disempowered and experienced a sense of loss due to their admission but also due to their experiences of psychosis. This was also accompanied by a lack of awareness and understanding from others, which resulted in feelings of stigma but acceptance within hospital. The themes are discussed in relation to previous research and current Government and National Health Service (NHS) initiatives. Declaration of interest: None

Level dc:type.qualificationlevel

DClinPsy

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

University of Glasgow

Year dc:date.issued

2008

Author dc:creator

• Asghar, Ifaf Homayra

• BF Psychology

Language dc:language

en