Perceived temporal reorganization during psychiatric hospitalization among people with schizophrenia: a qualitative...

Schizophrenia involves not only disturbances in thought, perception, and self-experience, but also disruptions in subjective temporality. During psychiatric hospitalization, recovery experiences may involve not only symptom stabilization but also patients' efforts to make sense of continuity between past, present, and future. This study explored how inpatients with schizophrenia described their time perspective during hospitalization.

This qualitative interview study recruited 15 clinically stable inpatients diagnosed with schizophrenia from four closed wards of a mental health center in China. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis informed by the concept of time perspective.

Five themes were generated: (1) the duality of the past perspective-emotional refuge versus traumatic intrusion; (2) the reshaping of present experience-from perceived stagnation to relational awakening; (3) the folding and extension of future images-contraction under uncertainty and gradual reconstruction; (4) coping with temporal distress-passive endurance and active self-soothing; and (5) perceived shifts in temporal organization-emerging agency and changing self-understanding. Participants' accounts suggested that time perspective during hospitalization was neither uniform nor fixed. Temporal experience was shaped by symptoms, ward restrictions, interpersonal relationships, structured activities, and changing levels of autonomy.

Subjective time perspective in schizophrenia during psychiatric hospitalization appears dynamic and context-sensitive rather than static. Participants' narratives suggest that perceived temporal reorganization may emerge within the context of hospitalization and is related to how individuals experience symptom changes, meaningful activities, interpersonal support, and everyday agency. These findings highlight the relevance of subjective temporality in understanding patients' experiences during inpatient psychiatric care.