Northampton Electronic Collection of Theses and Research

The journey from despair to hope: an exploration of the phenomenon of psychological distress in women residing in British secure mental health services

Parkes, J. and Freshwater, D. (2012) The journey from despair to hope: an exploration of the phenomenon of psychological distress in women residing in British secure mental health services. Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing. 19(7), pp. 618-628. 1365-2850.

Item Type: Article
Abstract: This paper reports the findings of a descriptive phenomenological study that aimed to elicit and describe the experience of psychological distress as expressed by a group of women compulsorily detained within secure mental health services in the UK. A fundamental objective of the study was to contribute to the existing evidence base that supports the care and treatment needs of this severity traumatized and challenging patient group. We argue that service providers and clinical practitioners could be better informed about the unique care and treatment needs of this severely traumatized patient group when working with them. A descriptive phenomenological apporach developed by Giorgi was used to elicit the lived experiences of 'psychological distress' from a sample of female patients resident within a high secure hospital and an independent medium secure hospital. The findings indicate that a treatment plan which includes a combination of prescribed medication, informal support networks, intensive individual therapy and active engagement in a therapeutic life skills programme can be extremely beneficial. Most notably in helping to reduce frequency of both internally and externally directed violent behaviour in this vulnerable client group
Subjects: R Medicine > RC Internal medicine > RC435 Psychiatry > RC440 Psychiatric nursing
R Medicine > RC Internal medicine > RC435 Psychiatry > RC450 Psychiatric hospitals
Creators: Parkes, Jackie and Freshwater, D
Publisher: Blackwell Publishing
Northamptonshire and East Midlands: Health
Faculties, Divisions and Institutes: University Faculties, Divisions and Research Centres - OLD > Research Centre > Institute of Health and Wellbeing > Centre for Applied Mental Health Research
University Faculties, Divisions and Research Centres - OLD > Faculty of Health & Society > Nursing
Faculties > Faculty of Health & Society > Nursing
Research Centres > Centre for Health Sciences and Services
Date: September 2012
Date Type: Publication
Page Range: pp. 618-628
Journal or Publication Title: Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing
Volume: 19
Number: 7
Language: English
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2850.2012.01909.x
ISSN: 1365-2850
Status: Published / Disseminated
URI: http://nectar.northampton.ac.uk/id/eprint/4519

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