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The journey from despair to hope: an exploration of the phenomenon of psychological distress in women residing in British secure mental health services
Author(s) -
PARKES J. H.,
FRESHWATER D. S.
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
journal of psychiatric and mental health nursing
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.69
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1365-2850
pISSN - 1351-0126
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2850.2012.01909.x
Subject(s) - mental health , psychological distress , distress , therapeutic relationship , medicine , psychology , psychiatry , interpretative phenomenological analysis , nursing , psychotherapist , clinical psychology , qualitative research , social science , sociology
Accessible summary• This paper describes a research study which was undertaken with 11 female patients, detained under the Mental Health Act. Seven of the women were resident in a high secure hospital; the remaining four women were patients on a female ward in an independent medium secure hospital. • All of the women had a history of self‐harming behaviours, with 10 of the participants expressing violence towards others. The female patients agreed to be interviewed about how they chose to show their feelings when they were sad, angry, frustrated and upset. • The findings describe how all of the women have different explanations for when and how they choose to hurt themselves, and what precipitates violent behaviour towards other people. The findings demonstrate that a combination of approaches to care and treatment can facilitate a reduction in both self‐harming and outwardly aggressive behaviours in this vulnerable client group. The findings of this study indicate that the most effective combination of treatment includes prescribed medication, informal support networks, intensive individual therapy and active engagement in a therapeutic programme which teaches life skills.Abstract This paper reports the findings of a descriptive phenomenological study that aimed to elicit and describe the experience of psychological distress as expressed by a group of women compulsorily detained within secure mental health services in the UK. A fundamental objective of the study was to contribute to the existing evidence base that supports the care and treatment needs of this severely traumatized and challenging patient group. We argue that service providers and clinical practitioners could be better informed about the unique care and treatment needs of this severely traumatized and challenging patient group when working with them. A descriptive phenomenological approach developed by Giorgi was used to elicit the lived experiences of ‘psychological distress’ from a sample of female patients resident within a high secure hospital and an independent medium secure hospital. The findings indicate that a treatment plan which includes a combination of prescribed medication, informal support networks, intensive individual therapy and active engagement in a therapeutic life skills programme can be extremely beneficial. Most notably in helping to reduce the frequency of both internally and externally directed violent behaviour in this vulnerable client group.