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Discharge procedures for mentally ill people The perspectives of professionals and former psychiatric patients on their quality of life
Author(s) -
Dufåker M.
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of social welfare
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.664
H-Index - 47
eISSN - 1468-2397
pISSN - 0907-2055
DOI - 10.1111/j.1468-2397.1994.tb00059.x
Subject(s) - quality of life (healthcare) , stigma (botany) , psychology , quality (philosophy) , mental illness , mentally ill , psychiatry , social psychology , mental health , psychotherapist , epistemology , philosophy
This article draws on literature about the quality of life and social relations to integrate a number of key concepts. Fifty‐three former patients were interviewed to give their opinion on their quality of life. Almost as many professionals gave their opinion on the same issue. According to the former patients, the quality of life was influenced by duration of and stigma attached to mental illness, being without work, financial difficulties, inability to exert influence over their own situation and negative expectations of the future. Illness patterns seemed to be the all‐pervading issue concerning the professionals' views on the former patients' quality of life. A social psychological analysis of these disparate views made it clear that they bring about contrasting claims; the professionals demanded continuation of a patient role whereas the former patients mostly wanted to find some means of embarking on ordinary useful lives.