Crisis phenomena after stroke reflected in an existential perspective

The study gains a deeper understanding of crisis phenomena emerging after stroke and focuses on these phenomena viewed in an existential perspective. Ten stroke victims narrated their experiences of their new life situation in open-ended interviews, conducted during the first few months after discharge. The participants were analyzed using a phenomenological-hermeneutic approach. This analysis disclosed an extremely distressing situation related to the individuals' struggle to manage in various dimensions of life. The phenomena were intertwined in a complex way and the critical interpretation involved a transcendence to the existential dimension of life. The situation was metaphorically depicted as "a struggle in the darkness" in a "boundary situation," where the issues ultimately touched on life and death, fate and future, meaning and meaninglessness. The study indicates the significance of existential issues pervading the seemingly concrete struggle to manage life after stroke.