The Meaning of Coping for Psychiatric Patients

Bibliographic Data

ID4664228
AuthorsJacqueline Ryan (Murdoch University, Murdoch, Western Australia, Australia), Mark Rapley (University of East London, London, United Kingdom), Suzanne Dziurawiec (Murdoch University, Murdoch, Western Australia, Australia)
Year2014
Volume24
Issue8
Pages1068-1079
Publication date2014-08-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueQualitative Health Research (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1049-7323 • E-ISSN: 1552-7557
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/1049732314541011
PMID25013205
OpenAlexW2105740641
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited51

Contemporary psychiatric theory holds that a precipitant of major mental illness is the inability of some vulnerable individuals to cope with the difficulties of everyday life. Such mentally ill people are characterized as having deficient, dysfunctional, or absent coping skills. Recently, researchers have exerted considerable effort to distinguish between productive and nonproductive coping. In this article, we argue that not only are such conceptualizations reliant on reductive, circular logic, but they also miss the essentially rational, local, and individual nature of coping in psychiatric patients' lives. We used semistructured interviews and thematic analyses of psychiatric patients' descriptions of their coping. Patients reported that professional intervention reduced their ability to cope, that they distrusted the mental health system and its professionals, that coping mechanisms were misinterpreted, that situational crises modulated coping, and that sometimes coping was just "not coping." We argue for a more respectful, nuanced understanding of coping among mental health professionals

Psychiatry · Psychotherapist · Clinical Psychology · Health, psychology, and well-being · Optimism, Hope, and Well-being · Psychology · Resilience and Mental Health

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