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Published on: October 28, 2020
Exploring the experience of hallucinations from a perspective of self: surviving and persevering
1University of North Carolina Wilmington, Wilmington, NC, jarosinskij@uncw.edu.
Background:
Despite improved treatment, little is understood about how clients view their hallucinations from a perspective of self, and few studies address the meaning of hallucinations or the relationship of hallucinations to the individual sense of being.
Objective:
To understand hallucinations from an individual perspective of self.
Study Design:
Heideggerian and hermeneutics-guided thematic analysis. Twelve individuals described their experiences of hallucinations. All interviews were recorded (with consent) and transcribed verbatim.
Results:
Four themes described surviving and persevering: (a) Are they who they are? (b) a not-so-certain life; (c) finding strength in the broken places; and (d) I am still me. Although experiencing hallucinations was analogous to living with loss, participants recalled hallucinations as providing something positive in how they cared for and related to others.
Conclusions:
Practitioners can incorporate a language of caring that meets the needs of their clients, rather than the language of empowerment, which proved overwhelming for participants already overwhelmed by the "business of getting better." J Am Psychiatr Nurses Assoc, 2008; 14(5), 353-362.
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