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Caring conversations - psychiatric patients' narratives about suffering
Lennart Fredriksson1, Unni A Lindström
1Department of Caring Science, Faculty of Social and Caring Science, University of Abo Akademi, Abo, Finland. lennart.fredriksson@lg.se
Journal of Advanced Nursing
|November 8, 2002
Summary
Psychiatric patients can reveal their suffering through narrative, leading to healing and self-discovery. Confronting shame and suffering allows for growth and reconciliation, rebuilding relationships.
Area of Science:
- Psychiatry
- Psychology
- Hermeneutics
Background:
- Understanding patient narratives is crucial in psychiatric care.
- Previous research has not fully explored how patients narrate suffering.
Purpose of the Study:
- To deepen the understanding of how psychiatric patients narrate their experience of suffering in conversations with nurses.
Main Methods:
- Audio recordings of 20 conversations between 8 patients and 3 nurses.
- Methodology inspired by Paul Ricoeur's hermeneutics.
- Naïve reading followed by structural analyses and critical reflection.
Main Results:
- Suffering initially concealed by a coping façade.
- A turning point allowed patients to confront suffering, regain themselves, and become visible.
- Healing occurred through re-establishing interpersonal connections.
Conclusions:
- Free narration allows patients to reveal or hide suffering.
- Answering the 'why' of suffering enables growth and reconciliation.
- Confronting suffering and shame opens patients to life-sustaining relationships.