Abstract
Peer support has been described as facilitating individuals' recovery from mental illness and offering useful support, hope and encouragement. The aim of this study was to explore how individuals with experience of severe mental illness in Sweden perceived peer support facilitating their recovery. The results from the grounded theory analysis of 27 in-depth interviews illustrated that despite diagnoses of severe mental illness, often described in terms of an inability to interact with other people, the identification when meeting others with similar experiences were powerful. The participants described how peer support meant an end to isolation and became an arena for identification, normalization, connection and being important to others. Involvement in the peer support group is related to time and recovery stage, and to how the participants in relation to peers pay attention to their own achievements and their recovery progress, also comparing their level of wellness with that of their peers.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/15017410903478956 | Journal eISSN: 1745-3011
Language: English
Page range: 83 - 90
Submitted on: Jul 17, 2008
Accepted on: Jan 1, 2009
Published on: Jun 2, 2010
Published by: Stockholm University Press
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Keywords:
© 2010 Ulla-Karin Schon, published by Stockholm University Press
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.