[Qualitative Study on Survival Stressors of 15 Community-dwelling People with Mental Illness]

Objective To understand the survival stress of community-dwelling people with mental disorder. Methods Fifteen cases were selected by purposive sampling and received semi-structured individualized interviews.The data were analyzed by Colaizzi framework and themes were extracted. Results Four themes were extracted:physiological stress due to psychiatric symptoms and side effects of drugs;psychological stress due to the outcome of mental illness and to conflict of roles in daily life;social and environmental stress such as social discrimination,lack of job opportunities,and difficulty in obtaining social welfare resources;and interpersonal stress caused by discrimination and deteriorating family relations. Conclusions Community-dwelling people with mental illness have a higher level survival stress after returning to their families and society,with the stressors including symptoms of illness,social discrimination,and interpersonal relationship.Eliminating self-discrimination of the patients,improving social support and social welfare system,and increasing individualized community mental rehabilitation activities may reduce the survival stress of these patients and promote their rehabilitation.