Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2023 Jul;45(4):374-382.
doi: 10.1177/02537176221084500. Epub 2022 May 8.

Lived Experiences of Persons with Chronic Schizophrenia Living in the Community

Akanksha Rani  1 , Kalayasundram Janaki Raman  1 , Thirumoorthy Ammapattian  1 , Sojan Antony  1 , Sphoorthi G Prabhu  1 , Chethan Basavarappa  2
Affiliations

Lived Experiences of Persons with Chronic Schizophrenia Living in the Community

Akanksha Rani et al. Indian J Psychol Med. 2023 Jul.

Abstract

Background: Each individual with schizophrenia experiences life uniquely, despite the sameness in their diagnosis. Understanding their experiences is vital for their better community integration and social work practice.

Method: We used the interpretative phenomenological approach. Persons with schizophrenia seeking outpatient services at a tertiary care institute in Bengaluru, India, were recruited through purposive sampling. In-depth interviews were conducted with six participants.

Results: Some of the meta-themes and subthemes identified were as follows: (a) perception about self (struggling with the sense of self, desire for normalcy, wanting to be in control of self and desire to live independently), (b) relationship with others (feeling supported by others and feeling rejected by others), (c) coping with consequences of illness (coping with disruptions in personal life and coping with disruptions in family life), and (d) experience of seeking treatment (reasons for seeking treatment, being on medication, and behavior of mental health professionals). The participants tried to find meaning in their lives by making sense of their illness. Family and community can have a significant impact on how persons with schizophrenia perceive their lives.

Conclusion: Mental health professionals need to encourage persons' and their families' greater participation in treatment planning and clinical interventions, which will enhance persons integration within the community and will help decrease the feeling of isolation commonly experienced when one lives with chronic mental illnesses.

Keywords: Community integration; lived experience; schizophrenia.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest concerning this article’s research, authorship, and publication.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.. Mapping of Main Themes and Subthemes
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Saxena S and Setoya Y. World Health Organization’s comprehensive mental health action plan, 2013–2020. Psychiatry Clin Neurosci 2014; 68: 585–586. - PubMed
    1. Connell J, Brazier J, O’Cathain A, et al.. Quality of life of people with mental health problems: A synthesis of qualitative research. Health Qual Life Outcomes, 2012; 10: 138–154. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Davidson L, Sells D, Songster S, et al.. Qualitative studies of recovery: What can we learn from the person? In: Ralph RO & Corrigan PW (eds) Recovery in Mental Illness: Broadening Our Understanding of Wellness. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association; 2005, 147–170.
    1. Borg M and Davidson L. The nature of recovery as lived in everyday experience. J Ment Health, 2008; 17: 129–140.
    1. Kawachi I and Berkman LF. Social ties and mental health. J Urban Health, 2001; 78: 458–467. - PMC - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources