Sense of self, adaptation and recovery in patients with psychosis in a forensic NHS setting

Abstract Qualitative methods have been used to explore users' recovery from psychosis. These studies have highlighted the importance of hope and redefining sense of self as being important aspects of the recovery process. To date there have been no studies that have collaborated with users in high‐security forensic settings to develop an experiential perspective of recovery in psychosis. This study used a social constructionist version of grounded theory to develop an experiential account of recovery in psychosis. Thirteen individuals who had experience of psychosis and were residing in a high‐security setting were interviewed in depth about their experiences of recovery. The interviews were transcribed and analysed using the social constructionist version of grounded theory. Contrasting accounts of recovery were apparent from the way in which participants spoke about their experiences. Some participants gave rich and reflective accounts of their recovery. These participants spoke about the nature of past experiences and the importance of those experiences in contextualizing their problems, and reflected on the implications of this on the tasks of recovery. In contrast, other participants' transcripts tended to be short and unelaborated. Recovery tasks seemed to be segregated from previous experiences and their reflection on their experience of psychosis seemed minimized. However, all participants spoke about the importance of developing relationships with staff and family. The development of relationships influenced how participants redefined themselves. Implications for clinical practice and further research are reviewed. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.