Investigating the Lived Experience of Recovery in People Who Hear Voices

Adèle De Jager; Paul Rhodes; Vanessa Beavan; Douglas Holmes; Kathryn McCabe; Neil Thomas; Simon McCarthy-Jones; Debra Lampshire; Mark Hayward

doi:10.1177/1049732315581602

Investigating the Lived Experience of Recovery in People Who Hear Voices

Adèle De Jager^*, Paul Rhodes, Vanessa Beavan, Douglas Holmes, Kathryn McCabe, Neil Thomas, Simon McCarthy-Jones, Debra Lampshire, Mark Hayward

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

45 Citations (Scopus)

101 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Although there is evidence of both clinical and personal recovery from distressing voices, the process of recovery over time is unclear. Narrative inquiry was used to investigate 11 voice-hearers' lived experience of recovery. After a period of despair/exhaustion, two recovery typologies emerged: (a) turning toward/empowerment, which involved developing a normalized account of voices, building voice-specific skills, integration of voices into daily life, and a transformation of identity, and (b) turning away/protective hibernation, which involved harnessing all available resources to survive the experience, with the importance of medication in recovery being emphasized. Results indicated the importance of services being sensitive and responsive to a person's recovery style at any given time and their readiness for change. Coming to hold a normalized account of voice-hearing and the self and witnessing of preferred narratives by others were essential in the more robust turning toward recovery typology.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1409-1423
Number of pages	15
Journal	Qualitative Health Research
Volume	26
Issue number	10
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1177/1049732315581602
Publication status	Published - 1 Aug 2016

Bibliographical note

Copyright the Author(s) 2015. Version archived for private and non-commercial use with the permission of the author/s and according to publisher conditions. For further rights please contact the publisher.

Keywords

illness and disease, experiences
interviews, semistructured
mental health and illness
narrative inquiry
psychology
qualitative
recovery
schizophrenia
stories / storytelling

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abstract = "Although there is evidence of both clinical and personal recovery from distressing voices, the process of recovery over time is unclear. Narrative inquiry was used to investigate 11 voice-hearers' lived experience of recovery. After a period of despair/exhaustion, two recovery typologies emerged: (a) turning toward/empowerment, which involved developing a normalized account of voices, building voice-specific skills, integration of voices into daily life, and a transformation of identity, and (b) turning away/protective hibernation, which involved harnessing all available resources to survive the experience, with the importance of medication in recovery being emphasized. Results indicated the importance of services being sensitive and responsive to a person's recovery style at any given time and their readiness for change. Coming to hold a normalized account of voice-hearing and the self and witnessing of preferred narratives by others were essential in the more robust turning toward recovery typology.",

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AU - McCarthy-Jones, Simon

AU - Lampshire, Debra

AU - Hayward, Mark

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Investigating the Lived Experience of Recovery in People Who Hear Voices

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