Lived time in ovarian cancer – A qualitative phenomenological exploration

Moskalewicz, Marcin; Popova, Yanna; Wiertlewska-Bielarz, Jadwiga

doi:10.1016/j.ejon.2021.102083

Cited by 14 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…It is essential to note that the process of identification with a diagnosis and lived time are relatively preconscious, which is why they should be explored with indirect tools [21]. We also supplemented the semi-structured phenomenological interview with a projective tool, thus combining phenomenological and non-phenomenological modes of apprehension, which gives the findings some extra validity [23].…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“As If There Are Two of Us”: The Battle of Borderline Personality Disorder Diagnosis in Lived Time

Sterna¹,

Moskalewicz²

2022

Psychopathology

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Background: Although the experience of reception of borderline personality disorder (BPD) diagnosis was previously researched, the process of mental adjustment to this diagnosis remains both empirically and theoretically unexplored. Theoretical concepts describing the structure of lived time in borderline patients, which underlies adjustment to diagnosis, living with the diagnosis, and recovery from the disorder, namely, immediacy and instantaneity are not empirically verified. Aim: This study aimed to phenomenologically describe the process of mental adjustment to the diagnosis of BPD and to uncover its underlying temporal structure. Methods: Semi-structured phenomenological interviews based on Giorgi’s descriptive phenomenological psychological method and Cottle’s Circles Test. The participants were 10 white, adult women diagnosed with BPD aged 20–32 years. Results: The process of adjustment to BPD diagnosis comprises three following stages: (1) a cumulative feeling of inadequacy preceding the diagnosis, (2) the outburst of diagnosis, (3) a battle of Self fragments while adjusting to the diagnosis. Simultaneously, the diagnosis modifies the relationship between the self and illness in a way that previously scattered problematic issues become inscribed into the self as symptoms. At the same time, these symptoms are relatively separated from its “healthy” part. The temporal structure underlying this process is discontinuous. Particular temporal dimensions are distanced from one another, and the inner images of the past and present consist of unconnected, emotional peaks. The present resembles waking up from the lethargy of the past, while the future consists of two colliding scenarios – either being free of or in control of symptoms. Conclusion: Clinicians should pay more attention to the pathway of identification with BPD diagnosis and its underlying temporality. This is crucial for recovery and may allow adjusting therapeutic interventions to the patients’ needs. Treatment should aim to enhance the patients’ abilities to reflect upon their temporal experience to merge their fragmented narrative identity and better situate them in the recovery process.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“As If There Are Two of Us”: The Battle of Borderline Personality Disorder Diagnosis in Lived Time

Sterna¹,

Moskalewicz²

2022

Psychopathology

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“…Further on, we have observed that women with ovarian cancer use the triweekly scheme of their chemotherapy sessions as a superior "clock" for orientation in progressing time-a measure that overrides biologically imposed circadian rhythms as well as conventional calendar units, such as weeks (Moskalewicz et al, 2021(Moskalewicz et al, , 2022b. Participants reported that their life goes in 3-week rounds, which has to do with the subjective significance of their hospital visits.…”

Section: Temporal Experience In Cancermentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Our previous qualitative research concerned a sample of nine women with ovarian cancer undergoing chemotherapy every 3 weeks for at least 6 months ( Moskalewicz et al, 2022b ). It was a hybrid study that combined a consensual qualitative approach with descriptive phenomenological psychology as developed by Giorgi.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chemotherapy, clocks, and the awareness of death: A quantitative phenomenological study

2023

Self Cite

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Following a previous phenomenological study of lived time in ovarian cancer, this research aims to find how the frequency of chemotherapy affects orientation in time (the so-called “chemo-clock”) and the awareness of mortality of service users with various cancers. For this purpose, a variation of a front-loaded phenomenological method that combines scientific hypothesis testing with phenomenological insights of both conceptual and qualitative nature was developed. The study is based on a purposive quota sample of 440 participants representative of the Polish cancer population in terms of sex (m:f ratio 1:1) and age (m > 65 = 61%; f > 65 = 53%) and undergoing chemotherapy for at least a month. The exposure environmental factors of interest are temporal: the frequency of chemotherapy [weekly (N = 150), biweekly (N = 146), and triweekly (N = 144)] and time since the beginning of treatment. The study confirms the relevance of the “chemo-clock”—participants use the pace of hospital appointments for orientation in time, and significantly more often when in triweekly treatments (weekly 38%; biweekly 61%; triweekly 69.4%; V = 0.242, p < 0.001, while neither age nor time since the beginning of treatment differentiate the usage of calendar categories and the “chemo-clock”). Simultaneously, chemotherapy increases their awareness of finitude, which again correlates neither with age nor time since the beginning of treatment but is significantly stronger in those with lower chemotherapy frequencies. Lower treatment frequencies are thus associated with its increased significance in terms of its impact on how people with cancer measure time and whether they increasingly consider their mortality.

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“…Starting from the background, women with a history of breast cancer tend to reframe their identity as that of a or “woman at risk,” leading to rethinking future expectations and taking health management into account (Gibson et al, 2015 ; McGannon et al, 2016 ; Moskalewicz et al, 2022 ). In this way, women need to deal with a renovated overall self, which is described as a system of cognitive and affective schemas that affects life-meanings and decisions (Christoff et al, 2011 ; Sui and Humphreys, 2015 ; Sebri et al, 2021c ).…”

Section: Body Sexuality and Intimate Relationships After Cancermentioning

confidence: 99%

How to address the body after breast cancer? A proposal for a psychological intervention focused on body compassion

Sebri

Durosini²,

Pravettoni³

2023

Front. Psychol.

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Lived time in ovarian cancer – A qualitative phenomenological exploration

Cited by 14 publications

References 25 publications

“As If There Are Two of Us”: The Battle of Borderline Personality Disorder Diagnosis in Lived Time

“As If There Are Two of Us”: The Battle of Borderline Personality Disorder Diagnosis in Lived Time

Chemotherapy, clocks, and the awareness of death: A quantitative phenomenological study

How to address the body after breast cancer? A proposal for a psychological intervention focused on body compassion

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