Persons Living With Bipolar Disorder—Their View Of The Illness And The Future

Abstract

The aim of this study is to describe the meaning of living with bipolar disorder (BD) based on individuals' views of the illness and their future. Interviews were conducted with 18 participants who resided in Sweden and had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder. Qualitative content analysis was employed. The findings revealed that daily life of those with BD was characterized by insecurity and challenges of accepting, understanding, and managing the illness. Increased hope of being able to influence the condition and receiving support to achieve a stable structure in life facilitates the management of daily life. Further research is needed on the next of kins' experiences of living with persons with BD.

“An Ongoing Struggle With the Self and Illness”: Α Meta-Synthesis of the Studies of the Lived Experience of Severe Mental Illness

“…As long as I behave normally, or they consider that I behave normally, there's no need to run around and tell them that I've been like this or that." (Jönsson et al, 2008(Jönsson et al, , p. 1226.…”

“…I don't want to receive social welfare payments […] I want to live a normal life […]. " (Jönsson et al, 2008(Jönsson et al, , p. 1230). …”

“…"It would have been best if I could have stayed feeling OK, but there is this kind of feeling that drags you down until you feel bad, a feeling that you can't do much about.." (Jönsson et al, 2008(Jönsson et al, , p. 1226.…”

“…They say that there are no prejudices anymore, because people are so enlightened, but that isn't true" (Jönsson et al, 2008(Jönsson et al, , p. 1225.…”

“…However, most of these studies do not shed light on the core of these experiences, and help us further understand the phenomenon of severe mental illness (SMI) and suffering in its essence (Andersen & Larsen, 2012;Borg & Davidson, 2008;De Maynard, 2007;Hirschfeld, Smith, Trower, & Griffin, 2005;Jönsson et al, 2008;Lee, Kleinman, & Kleinman, 2007;Liu et al, 2012;McCann & Clark, 2004;Moreira & Coelho, 2003;Nyström, Dahlberg, & Segesten, 2002;Nyström & Nyström, 2007;Pollack & Aponte, 2001;Sanseeha, Chontawan, Sethabouppha, Disayavanish, & Turale, 2009;Schön, 2009;Thompson et al, 2008;Wang, 2011;Ward, 2011). Overall, prior literature, theoretical explanations and historical perspectives present a variety of data regarding the lived experience of mental disorders, depending on the diverse study objectives, culture and backgrounds and structures of the health care systems (Andersen & Larsen, 2012;Borg & Davidson, 2008;De Maynard, 2007;Hirschfeld et al, 2005;Jönsson et al, 2008;Lee et al, 2007;Liu et al, 2012;McCann & Clark, 2004;Moreira & Coelho, 2003;Nyström & Nyström, 2007;Nyström et al, 2002;Pollack & Aponte, 2001;Sanseeha et al, 2009;Schön, 2009;Thompson et al, 2008;Wang, 2011;Ward, 2011). Moreover, it is through metasynthesis that we can achieve greater understanding of the core of these experiences and shed some light on the phenomenon of ...…”