Journal article
The meaning of coping for psychiatric patients
Qualitative Health Research, Vol.24(8), pp.1068-1079
2014
Abstract
Contemporary psychiatric theory holds that a precipitant of major mental illness is the inability of some vulnerable individuals to cope with the difficulties of everyday life. Such mentally ill people are characterized as having deficient, dysfunctional, or absent coping skills. Recently, researchers have exerted considerable effort to distinguish between productive and nonproductive coping. In this article, we argue that not only are such conceptualizations reliant on reductive, circular logic, but they also miss the essentially rational, local, and individual nature of coping in psychiatric patients’ lives. We used semistructured interviews and thematic analyses of psychiatric patients’ descriptions of their coping. Patients reported that professional intervention reduced their ability to cope, that they distrusted the mental health system and its professionals, that coping mechanisms were misinterpreted, that situational crises modulated coping, and that sometimes coping was just “not coping.” We argue for a more respectful, nuanced understanding of coping among mental health professionals.
Details
- Title
- The meaning of coping for psychiatric patients
- Authors/Creators
- J. Ryan (Author/Creator) - Murdoch UniversityM. Rapley (Author/Creator) - University of East LondonS. Dziurawiec (Author/Creator) - Murdoch University
- Publication Details
- Qualitative Health Research, Vol.24(8), pp.1068-1079
- Publisher
- Sage
- Identifiers
- 991005545382607891
- Copyright
- Sage
- Murdoch Affiliation
- School of Psychology and Exercise Science
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article
- Note
- Published online 10 July 2014
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