How do they see themselves? Self-perception and functioning for people with chronic schizophrenia.
In a supervised living situation, 15 individuals whose physical health was considered stable and who had diagnoses of chronic schizophrenia expressed varying perceptions of their mental health. Most perceived themselves as mentally well. This is in opposition to findings reported by Estroff (1981) and Dzurec (1986) that suggested that clients with schizophrenia tended to have negative self-perceptions. The author posits that this positive self-perception might be a function of respondents' expressed satisfaction with their housing situation. This is an area in which ongoing research is being conducted (Bininger, 1989; Dzurec, 1989). Housing satisfaction is thought by some researchers to precede successful community adaptation for the severely mentally disabled (Blanch, 1988). Respondents' perceptions of their mental health, as expressed in response to the interview protocol, appeared to be couched within primarily mundane, day to day issues. This finding is consistent with Estroff's conclusion that clients "seemed to have less control of their time, space, resources, and information than did outside and inside normals" (Estroff, 1981). The respondents gave themselves higher than average scores (ie, 3 or above on a five-point scale) overall on the PES, an instrument that measured aspects of their daily functioning. Their caretakers gave them somewhat lower overall scores on the PES. There was a moderate association between individual pairs of respondent-caretaker scores on the PES. Personal mental health perception did not appear to influence daily functioning.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Dzurec
L C
LC
Ohio State University, College of Nursing, Columbus 43210-1289.
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D007899:Leisure Activities; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D012559:Schizophrenia / Q000175:diagnosis; D012565:Schizophrenic Psychology; D012649:Self Concept