The purpose of this study was to explore views of life among people with long-term mental illnesses. The participants' possible cognitive inability to express such views dictated a research design that was both fit for purpose and respectful of their integrity. The study, based on an ethnographic framework, involved photographs and interviews with five women and three men. The participants were the photographers, as well as the authors of their own narratives, and the photographs served as a starting point for the interviews. The interview material was analysed in terms of the phases of interpretation. Four main themes were identified: 'thoughts about God and the meaning of life and death', 'the meaning of relationships with others', 'how animals give meaning to life without demands' and 'the symbolic bearing of objects on life'. These four themes represent key existential issues among people with long-term mental illnesses, but they lack confidants to share or discuss these matters with.

The aim of this study was to explore how people suffering from long-term mental illness and who live in the community experience their daily lives. The study was based on an ethnographic framework involving participant observations with 23 individuals from two rehabilitation centres and interviews with six women and two men. The observational notes and interviews were recorded, transcribed into the data and analysed based on the phases of hermeneutic interpretation. The process consisted of identifying tentative interpretations that highlighted various impediments that prevent people with long-term mental illness from having an active life. The impediments can also be interpreted as a form of alienation, an interpersonal phenomenon and a consequence due to of the lack of social acceptance towards mental illness. The participants expressed concern about the future and lack of hope. Viewing themselves as being 'odd' is not a symptom of mental illness, but rather evidence of experiencing existential and social alienation not only as a consequence of other people's reactions but also their own negative attitudes towards mental illness and effects of their cognitive dysfunction.

The aim of this study was to gain in-depth knowledge of how persons with long-term mental illness experience their everyday situation, in order to identify potential psychosocial obstacles to a meaningful existence. The focus was on psychosocial aspects, such as contact with others and the quality of these contacts. An ethnographic design was used, in order to provide an inside perspective. Four persons with long-term mental illness participated in the study. Three open-ended interviews, at 1-week intervals, were conducted with each informant. Analysis of transcribed material consisted of naive reading and content analysis guided by the investigators' understanding of the psychiatric context. Three themes were generated: feeling lonely but being unable to establish friendships; knowledge of what to do but lacking initiative; and awareness of the need for support but not wanting to be subject to control. These themes reflect contradictions between thoughts, feelings and actions, which seem to contribute to a psychosocial disadvantage in the life of persons with long-term mental illness.

Nurses can use photography in conjunction with interviews to ascertain the life worlds of their patients.