The Phenomenology of Emotion Experience in First-Episode Psychosis
V.v. Vodušek, J. Parnas, M. Tomori, B. Škodlar
Psychopathology January 1, 2014 DOI: 10.1159/000357759
Summary
Anxiety is reported as the basic emotion that buffers, transforms, and sometimes supplants all others in schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Emotions are experienced as foreign, unstable, and perturbing, contributing to feelings of ambivalence, perplexity, and an unstable sense of self. These emotion experiences may underlie a wide range of psychopathological phenomena in cognitive and social functioning. The results, based on interviews with 20 participants at admission and six months later, may not be generalizable to all schizophrenia patients due to the small sample size and selection from psychotherapeutic units.
Study at a glance
| Characteristics | Qualitative study Peer reviewed |
|---|---|
| Sample size | 20 |
| Population | Patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders from psychotherapeutic units |
| Citations | 30 |
| Key finding | Anxiety is the basic emotion that buffers, transforms, and sometimes supplants all others, and emotions are experienced as foreign, unstable, and perturbing in schizophrenia spectrum disorders. |
Abstract
Background: Although it has been suggested that disturbances in emotion experience and regulation play a central role in the aetiology and psychopathology of schizophrenia spectrum disorders, the phenomenology of emotion experience in schizophrenia remains under-researched. Sampling and Methods: In-depth interviews were conducted twice with each of the 20 participants (firstly at admission and secondly 6 months later). Data collection and analysis were guided by the principles of phenomenological study of lived experience. Results: The emotion experiences described by our participants vary greatly in both quality and intensity, but appear to have a common phenomenology. Anxiety is reported as the basic emotion which buffers, transforms and sometimes supplants all others. Emotions in general are experienced as foreign, unstable and perturbing, thereby contributing greatly to feelings of ambivalence, perplexity and an unstable sense of self in general. Conclusions: The findings of this study have important therapeutic and theoretical implications because they suggest that emotion experiences in schizophrenia spectrum disorders may underlie a wide range of psychopathological phenomena in both the cognitive and social functioning domains. Due to the relatively small sample size and its selection from psychotherapeutic units, the results may not be generalizable to all schizophrenia patients.