Songs Portraying The Lived Experience Of Mental Illness

Abstract

Abstract Existing healthcare treatments and services for people living with serious mental illness pose a challenge for both the service provider and the recipient of care. While recovery oriented care is a priority, many healthcare practices and contextual factors pose a barrier to recovery. This study augments our awareness of the authentic lifeworld of people living with serious mental illness with the aim of gaining insights that can be used to develop healthcare practices which support recovery. This study explored the subjective experiences of people living with SMI as they expressed them through co-creative songwriting. Through a hermeneutic phenomenological analysis based in the philosophical groundwork of Heidegger and Gadamer, a thematic representation of the lifeworld of people living with SMI was developed. The findings are described in three parts: becoming broken, becoming whole and experiencing the lifeworld as transformed. Becoming broken is explored in four themes including fragmented inner and outer worlds, pain, despair and suicide. Becoming whole is achieved through catalysts of change that include connection, the sacred, beauty, and resilience. This representation is depicted using a tapestry metaphor to picture the lifeworld as torn, mended and transformed. The findings demonstrate that transformation is a spiritual process. Additionally the potential impact of the study on stigma and perceptions of mental illness is discussed. The findings are considered within the framework of Antonovsky’s theory of salutogensis. A resulting salutogenic model of mental illness and mental health as transformation is proposed. The implications for theory, research and practice are discussed in relation to the areas of recovery, salutogenesis, positive psychology and spirituality. The study recommends greater inclusion of spirituality, creative processes, and a focus on positive psychology as underutilized resources to enhance healthcare for people living with SMI.