Hell on earth: Textual reflections on the experience of mental illness

Abstract

Background

Some people who by themselves or by others are understood as having mental health problems have written autobiographies about their experiences.

Aims

The aim of this study is to explore how people write about their experiences of being mentally ill.

Method

Twelve Scandinavian autobiographies were studied using content analysis based on phenomenology and hermeneutics.

Results

Three themes were identified: feeling like a stranger in life and places, the transformation of life experiences into questions of disease and feeling ashamed.

Conclusions

People's experiences of being mentally ill might be understood as the result of medical constructions unsuitable for the persons themselves. We could instead say that mental problems are not diseases, but severe and painful phenomena in people's lives.

Keywords:

• mental health
• autobiography
• user knowledge
• medical model

Notes

1 Holck (1918) was diagnosed with psychosis; the patients presented by Dahlin (1919) were considered as having serious mental problems; Bergh (1925) and Jacobsen (1932) were also considered as having serious mental diseases; Danner (1955) was diagnosed with psychosis, Reeder (1975) with schizophrenia, Storfjord (1977) with anxiety and Henningsen Jensen (1986) with psychosis. Jaer (1995), Jensen (2003) and Lauveng (2005) were considered as schizophrenic; Heberlein (2008) was considered as having a bipolar disorder.