Mutuality as background music in women's lived experience of mental health and depression

Mental health problems, especially depression, have turned into an extensive public health problem, affecting women in particular. The aim of this study was to obtain a deeper understanding of mental health phenomena through elderly women's lived experiences of mental health and depression. The phenomenological approach was chosen for collecting experience‐based and person‐centred descriptions from 21 women, focusing on mental health and depression. The interviews were analysed using Giorgi's phenomenological descriptive method. Mutuality in their relationships with themselves and others emerged as a major element in the women's experience of mental health and depression. When the women's existence and value were confirmed in relation to themselves and others, mental health appeared as an ascending spiral. When the women's value and self‐esteem in relation to themselves and others were violated, the result was a descending spiral. Metaphorically speaking, ‘mutuality’ provided the ‘background music’ to the women's lives. Being a skilled professional psychiatric nurse means making the best use of mutuality as a creative power in the nurse–patient relationship. This means that the nurse must be aware that her/his attitude, appearance and behaviour are interpreted as a confirmation of the patient's worthiness or worthlessness.