Journal of Psychiatry

From a psychiatric hospitalization, back to school - a narrative research

20^th Euro Congress on Psychiatrists and Psychologists

August 07-08, 2017 | Rome, Italy

Iris Manor-Binyamini

Haifa University, Israel

Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Psychiatry

Abstract:

Statement of the Problem: In the last decade, more and more studies give voice to the personal perspective of people who are coping with schizophrenia, but only few focus on adolescents. Even fewer studies, examine the delicate phase for these adolescents of the transition from hospitalization back to the community, using the qualitative method. Researchers have reported that: Adopting a narrative perspective in this way broadens our horizons concerning the range of factors that might influence a person�??s understanding of, and response to, the onset of a mental disorder. Building on the work of Estroff, Lysaker, and others, I employed narrative constructs in the analysis of interview data in which adolescent recovering from a psychotic episode described the experiences of self in relation to their illness. Aim: The purpose of this study was to describe the experience of 20 adolescents with schizophrenia (ages 13-18). Methodology & Theoretical Orientation: A semi-structured interview was used in the study, based on the IPII- Indiana Psychiatric Illness Interview. The interviews focused on the experiences of the participants at the transitional phase from hospitalization back to a special education school, and to examine if it is possible to reconcile the own subjective experiences of the participants, and to learn from them and improve the process of returning to school after hospitalization. The interviews were analyzed using the narrative approach, through categorical content analysis and analysis of form. Results: The results of the study revealed six major themes, which are: life and death, support and family involvement and its absence, satisfaction and dissatisfaction with the work of professionals, medical balance and imbalance, and sense of coherence and the lack of a sense of coherence.

Biography :

Iris Manor-Binyamini is the Head of the Department of Behavioral and Emotional Disorders, at the Faculty of Education at the University of Haifa. One of her areas of expertise is the coping of parents and children with disabilities, specifically children with mental illnesses in special education schools. In her research, she searches for common resources of coping mechanisms for adolescent children with disabilities to apply the best available evidence gained from the scientific method for treatment and educational decision making in special education schools (Manor-Binyamini, 2014).

Email: iris.manorbinyamini@gmail.com