title: To tame a volcano: patients with borderline personality disorder and their perceptions of suffering.
abstract: The aim of the study was to investigate life situations, suffering, and perceptions of encounter with psychiatric care among 10 patients with borderline personality disorder. The results are based on a hermeneutic interpretation of narrative interviews in addition to biographical material (diary excerpts and poems). The interpretation revealed three comprehensive theme areas: life on the edge , the struggle for health and dignity-a balance act on a slack wire over a volcano , and the good and the bad act of psychiatric care in the drama of suffering . These theme areas form a movement back and forth-from despair and unendurable suffering to struggle for health and dignity and a life worth living. Common beliefs regarding these patients among personnel and implications for psychiatric care are discussed in relation to the results.
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Neuroscience, Psychiatry Section, Psychiatry center, Karolinska Hospital, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden. kentingep@ltalmar.se
authors.forename: Kent-Inge
authors.initials: KI
authors.lastname: Perseius
authors.forename: Susanne
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ekdahl
authors.forename: Marie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Asberg
authors.forename: Mats
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Samuelsson
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000554:Ambulatory Care Facilities; D001883:Borderline Personality Disorder / Q000451:nursing* / Q000523:psychology; D004645:Empathy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007406:Interview, Psychological; D008875:Middle Aged; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D012306:Risk; D012803:Sick Role; D012944:Social Support; D013406:Suicide, Attempted / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology; D013548:Sweden