How aging individuals with schizophrenia experience the self-etiology of their illness: a reflective lifeworld research approach

Asian perspectives on personal recovery in mental health: a scoping review

BACKGROUND

Personal recovery is a relatively novel concept in many Asian countries, and recovery-oriented interventions are usually adapted from western conceptualizations of recovery.

AIM

To understand what personal recovery in mental health means to people in Asia, what meanings they give to their conditions, and what factors they perceive as hindering or facilitating their recovery.

METHOD

The review focused on peer-reviewed papers published in English between the years 2000 and 2020. Arksey and O'Malley 5-stage method was used to guide the review.

RESULTS

Thirty studies were included. Personal recovery in Asia meant a return to a pre-illness state and involved a transformative process. Mental illness was explained as being biomedically oriented, although religious/culturally bound explanations were also present in some studies. Social support, religion, meaningful activities, supportive professionals, and personalized coping strategies were viewed as supporting recovery. Religious stigma, discrimination, gendered norms, and negative societal perceptions of mental illness hindered recovery.

CONCLUSIONS

The concept of personal recovery in Asia is extremely diverse. Studies exploring personal recovery among people experiencing mental illness in Asia remains in its early stages and more research is needed to better understand how it is conceptualized. Such knowledge could benefit frontline implementation of recovery-oriented services.

"Like Every Normal Person?!" The Paradoxical Effect of Aging With Schizophrenia

Studies on aging with schizophrenia have focused mainly on the adversities of aging with mental illness. The present study, however, examined the subjective experience of well-being among individuals with schizophrenia. Taking a phenomenological reflective life-world approach, in-depth, semistructured interviews with 18 aging individuals with schizophrenia were thematically analyzed. Four main themes emerged: (a) "I love the pills . . . they are very helpful": A balanced course of the illness as a basis for well-being in old age; (b) "I'm going to have my own exhibition at the museum": Self-fulfillment as promoting well-being; (c) "It's just like a family here": Experiencing a sense of belonging; and (d) "I live like everyone else": Aging as an opportunity for normalization. Alongside hardship, the participants perceived old age as a "window of opportunity," enabling the fulfillment of lifelong desires for a social life, acceptance, and a satisfying occupation. Implications regarding interventions with this unique population are discussed.

Aging With Schizophrenia: A Lifelong Experience of Multidimensional Losses and Suffering

The aim of this study was to explore the subjective experience of suffering in aging individuals with schizophrenia. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 18 participants aged 60-69. Phenomenological content analysis was performed. Nine dimensions of suffering emerged: social rejection; familial rejection; the symptoms of schizophrenia; hospitalisation; the side effects of medication; loss of employment potential; loss of independent accommodation; loss of social life, and loss of hope to be a partner and a parent. The suffering of aging people with schizophrenia is cumulative and ongoing and thus evokes issues such as existential loneliness and feelings of homelessness.