Adversity as opportunity : living with schizophrenia and developing a resilient self

Approximately 1% of the population is diagnosed with schizophrenia, and despite longstanding critiques of the (bio)medical model, understanding of the disorder still arises primarily through (bio)medical explanations. In turn, causation, symptoms and treatments are increasingly sophisticated and well known while understanding of other aspects of the disorder, especially the intersubjective experience of people living with schizophrenia, remains fragmented. For this reason, the present study sought to understand how people experience schizophrenia. To do this, the stories of 19 people diagnosed with the disorder were hermeneutically interpreted. These stories appeared in The Schizophrenia Bulletin – a journal which publishes ‘first person accounts’, sometimes anonymously, of people’s experience of mental illness. Within the study context, the findings indicate that facing the adversity of schizophrenia means living: (i) wisely – understanding the nature of self-with schizophrenia and of life-with-schizophrenia; (ii) mindfully – keeping understandings in conscious thought; and (iii) purposefully – acting deliberately. Doing this results in a stable and meaningful life and in a different, more resilient self.