The Meaning in Life for Hospitalized Patients With Schizophrenia

Abstract

This study investigated the relationship between the sense of meaning in life, quality of life, medical adherence, and duration of hospitalization among 60 inpatients at the Lev Hasharon Medical Center in Israel. Participants included men and women diagnosed with schizophrenia, whose psychiatric histories dated back at least 5 years. Participants were administered the following self-report questionnaires: Purpose In Life (Crumbaugh and Maholick, 1968), Condensed Quality of Life Enjoyment and Satisfaction (Ritsner et al., 2005), Drug Attitude Inventory (Hogan et al., 1983), and Beck Depression Inventory-Fast Screen (Beck et al., 1997a). Results indicated that purpose in life correlated positively with quality of life and medical adherence, whereas negatively with depression. Furthermore, purpose in life correlated positively with the duration of the current hospitalization. The results are discussed in terms of a process of attachment to the hospital as the sense of life purpose emerges.

Associations Between Spirituality, Meaning in Life, and Depressive Disorders Among a Sample of Individuals in Treatment for Substance-Use Disorders

“…They had hypothesized that there would be a significant negative relationship between presence of meaning and symptom levels and a positive relationship between search and symptom levels. Similar results have been reported among 49 patients hospitalized with schizophrenia (Stolovy et al, 2009) and among 171 older adults reporting depressive symptoms (Westerhof et al, 2010). Pesut, Clark, Maxwell, and Michalak (2011) conducted a literature review concerning spirituality and BIPO in which they found only six articles.…”

“…There are only a few studies examining the impact of spirituality and meaning in life on depressive symptoms (Mascaro & Rosen, 2008;Schnetzer et al, 2013;Stolovy et al, 2009;Westerhof et al, 2010), all of which reported a negative relationship between these factors and depressive symptomatology. For example, Mascaro and Rosen (2008) found among a sample of 395 undergraduate students that there was a small but significant inverse relationship between the baseline reported level of existential meaning and depressive symptoms 2 months later.…”

“…Numerous studies have documented that spirituality appears to be a protective factor against both substance-use disorders and depressive symptoms (Mascaro & Rosen, 2008;Piderman, Schneekloth, Pankratz, Stevens, & Altchuler, 2008;Robinson, Cranford, Webb, & Brower, 2007;Robinson, Krentzman, Webb, & Brower, 2011;Schnetzer, Schulenberg, & Buchanan, 2013;Sterling et al, 2007;Stolovy, Lev-Wiesel, Doron, & Gelkopf, 2009;Westerhof, Bohlmeijer, van Beljouvw, & Pot, 2010). According to several researchers (e.g., Canda & Furman, 2010;Cook, 2004;Oman, 2014;Seidlitz et al, 2002), spirituality contains elements of both existential purpose and meaning (i.e., ultimate meaning of life) and connectedness to the divine or the transcendent.…”

Posttraumatic Growth in Psychosis

“…The inability to find meaning in life after encountering adverse situations can result in extreme distress (45). Studies show that individuals with SMI are capable of searching for and finding meaning (11, 52). For example, Piltch (53) described her recovery process from major depression, in which finding meaningful roles and activities (i.e., parenthood and acquiring a profession), was facilitative not only of recovery, but also had elements that can otherwise be described as PTG.…”

Meaning in Life, Psychological Well-Being and Depressive Symptomatology: A Comparative Study

“…The studies that have investigated the relationship of meaning in life with psychological well-being and depression are relatively few, and in general they demonstrate significant negative relationships among these variables. However, they have been conducted in the United States of America and with specific populations such as individuals with multiple sclerosis (Hart, Fonareva, Merluzzi, & Mohr, 2005), HIV (Lyon & Younger, 2001), cancer (Simonelli, Fowler, Maxwell, & An-dersen, 2008), Schizophrenia (Stolovy, Lev-Wiesel, Adiel, & Gelkopf, 2009), older adults (Westerhof et al, 2010) and college students (Mascaro & Rosen, 2005Robak & Griffin, 2000). The need for further investigation of the relationship of meaning in life with depression and psychological well-being in other populations and in other sociocultural environments, such as the European one and more specifically the one of Greece, is necessary and becomes even more important, if we consider that depression is closely connected with suicidal ideation and mortality, which seem to be mediated by the concept of hopelessness.…”