title: The lifeworld of the chronic mentally ill: analysis of 40 written personal accounts.
abstract: In this study, chronicity in mental illness has been investigated as it is lived rather than how it might be conceptualized. Published first-hand accounts have provided the mechanism for direct access in coming to know the life of persons, their circumstances, and the meanings they associate with a life of persistent and enduring mental illness. These are unique and particular human experiences, and there are no empirical generalizations or law-like statements that can give such an understanding. Therefore the disclosure of meaning was sought through a hermeneutic-phenomenologic process. Four lifeworld existentials provide the framework for a combined description and interpretation of what it means to "live" chronic mental illness. The article concludes with a brief discussion of some implications for nursing practice, and commentary is made on the relevance of such insights to health care providers in both acute and community care settings.
authors.affiliation: University of Alberta, Faculty of Nursing, Edmonton, Canada.
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Hayne
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Yonge
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001828:Body Image; D002648:Child; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D010550:Personal Space; D013998:Time Perception