Aloneness and loneliness – persons with severe mental illness and experiences of being alone
2015 (English)In: Scandinavian Journal of Disability Research, ISSN 1501-7419, E-ISSN 1745-3011, Vol. 17, no 4, p. 353-365Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
People with severe mental illness (SMI) are often described as lonely and socially incapable – an inability resulting from the mental illness. The aim of this article is to explore experiences of being alone among persons with SMI. The article is based on interviews with 19 persons diagnosed with psychosis who were interviewed between four and nine times over a period of three years. The findings show that experiences of being alone can be identified by two concepts: aloneness and loneliness. The persons in the study appeared as socially able and active in relation to their social lives. However, a social agent does not operate in a void but in interaction with specific living conditions; the experiences of aloneness and loneliness may be viewed as the result of the interplay between the individual and the social and material environment.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2015. Vol. 17, no 4, p. 353-365
Keywords [en]
aloneness, loneliness, severe mental illness, adult, Article, daily life activity, female, human, interview, male, mental disease, psychosis, social behavior, social life, social welfare, socialization
National Category
Psychiatry
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:hj:diva-34749DOI: 10.1080/15017419.2014.941927Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-84942116696OAI: oai:DiVA.org:hj-34749DiVA, id: diva2:1066143
2017-01-172017-01-172017-10-31Bibliographically approved